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HOUSING AND LAND
Any family of three people, or any three unrelated elderly persons, or a married couple who are Hong Kong residents may register on the waiting list for public housing. Duplicated applications are cancelled at the time of application. The waiting list is long: since 1967, 481 800 families have applied, of whom 88 700 have been rehoused with another 229 500 found to be ineligible for public housing. Applications are considered according to the sequence of registration and the district of choice, but accommodation is only offered to those found eligible, on investigation, in respect of their living space and conditions and whose family income is within a scale related to family size. The income limit is reviewed periodically and is adjusted regularly in line with inflation. Applicants whose applications are cancelled on grounds of income or space may have their claims reviewed 12 months after the cancellation and within five years if there are genuine changes in their family circumstances which render their applications eligible at that time.
Management
Close contact is maintained with tenants through frequent visits by estate staff. In addition, regular meetings are held with more than 770 mutual aid committees and other residents' associations established for such purposes as the Clean Hong Kong and Fight Crime campaigns. The door-to-door system of rent collection, which covers all estates, ensures not only an enviable rent collection record (less than 0.3 per cent monthly arrears) but also is an important means of keeping in touch with tenants.
Overcrowding in the older estates remains a major problem and some 30 000 families are still living in an area providing less than 2.2 square metres per person. However, with an increasing number of new estates being completed, all such families are now eligible to apply for transfer to new flats. The flats they vacate, usually being smaller and having a lower rent, are made available for other families who do not yet qualify for permanent housing. Families wishing to move to a different flat can register with the Mutual Exchange Bureau or, if they have valid reasons other than overcrowding for moving, they can request a transfer to a flat of the same size.
The Housing Authority is also an important commercial landlord, with 13 750 shop, bank and restaurant tenancies of various sizes. Shops and shop-stalls in new commercial complexes are let on tendered rentals, thus giving the smaller operator with limited capital an opportunity to obtain an estate shop. Commercial properties are generally let on a three-year agreement. Rents are raised to near-market levels on renewal of an agreement, but, where increases are substantial, it is the authority's policy to apply them in stages over two or three years. The authority also manages'more than 5 000 factory tenancies in 34 purpose-built blocks, and 4 512 cottages in various districts.
About 170 premises on estates were let for various welfare and community purposes at reduced rentals. These include primary and secondary schools, kindergartens, clinics, and child and youth centres. Hostels and centres are provided in some estates for the elderly and for mentally and physically retarded children and adults. Estate kaifong and residents' associations and block mutual aid committees are also provided with premises in most cases. Premises let to various government departments - including police posts and offices - are generally let at near-commercial rents.
Maintenance and improvements are major items, particularly in the older estates. During the year, some $60 million was spent on contract cleansing and about $200 million was spent on maintenance and improvements - mainly painting contracts, planned preventive maintenance of buildings and electrical systems, and estate improvements such as recrea- tion areas and lighting.