HOUSING
218
(PSPS), which aims to make more use of the resources of the private sector to produce flats for sale at subsidised prices.
About 47 per cent of the families who bought property under the schemes were public housing tenants who were required to surrender their rental flats in return.
Private sector applicants are not allowed to own domestic property and are subject to a household income limit of $22,000 a month. These restrictions, however, do not apply to public housing tenants, residents of temporary housing areas and cottage areas managed by the authority, households displaced by the clearance of squatter areas for development, natural disaster victims and junior civil servants.
As an encouragement, public housing tenants are accorded higher priority than private sector applicants in selecting HOS flats. This incentive has been extended to prospective tenants, so that more public rental flats will be available for applicants in greater need.
The allocation quota of flats for the private sector and public housing applicants was changed during the year. Previously, public housing applicants were allocated 50 per cent of the flats in each development phase, but this figure was increased to 67 per cent.
Favourable mortgage terms are provided by 44 financial institutions for the purchase of HOS and PSPS flats, in return for the authority's indemnity against loss in cases of default. This enables purchasers to borrow between 90 and 95 per cent of the flat price, with repayment periods of up to 20 years.
During the year, the HOS and PSPS schemes were over-subscribed 15 times. Some == 10 430 flats were sold under the HOS scheme, and 2 340 flats under the PSPS scheme.
The prices of flats sold ranged from $515,900 for a flat with a saleable floor area of 39.7 square metres at Peng Lai Court, Peng Chau, to $1,619,100 for a flat of 59.9 square metres at Kwai Chun Court, Kwai Chung. Prices were, on average, 48 per cent below market values. The annual production of ownership flats will range from 9 000 to 20 000 flats between 1995 and 1999. Of these, about 50 per cent will be upgraded flats in blocks originally intended for rental housing estates - providing a wider choice of flat sizes, standards, locations and prices.
Home Purchase Loan Scheme
Under the Home Purchase Loan Scheme, lower and middle-income families are given assistance to buy flats in the private sector. In 1994, 465 families benefited.
Eligible applicants are offered an interest-free loan of $300,000, repayable over the same period as the bank mortgage on the property, up to a maximum of 20 years.
Alternatively, they may opt for a monthly subsidy of $2,600 for 48 months, which need not be repaid.
Since the start of the loan scheme in 1988, 8 600 loans and 390 subsidies have been granted. As a result, 4 760 public housing units have been recovered for allocation to other families.
Building Projects
Some 105 000 flats were in various stages of construction during the year, with most of the work being carried out on the redevelopment of old housing estates in the urban areas.
Two phases of the Tsz Wan Shan Estate redevelopment have been completed. Con- struction of a big commercial centre there will begin in early 1995. Other redevelopment
Page 255Page 256