HOUSING
exceeding 18.5 per cent. With rents being charged at $63.40 per square metre for the newest urban estates, $39.60 for the newest New Territories estates, and $36.40 for the newest Island estates, domestic rents represent, on average, 9.1 per cent of the median household income of Housing Authority tenants. Rents are reviewed every two years,periodically taking into account increases in rates, management and maintenance costs, location, facilities, and tenants' ability to pay.
The Housing (Amendment) Ordinance 1997 provides that at least three years must elapse after a rent determination before rent increases for public rental housing estates managed by the Housing Authority can take effect; and that the level of rent increase cannot be such as to cause the overall median-rent-to-income ratio to exceed 10 per cent.
Housing Subsidy Policy
Under a modified Housing Subsidy Policy introduced in April 1993, tenants who have lived in public housing for 10 years or more are required to declare household income at two-yearly intervals. Households with income exceeding twice the Waiting List Income Limit are required to pay 1.5 times rent plus rates. Those with income exceeding three times the Waiting List Income Limit or who choose not to declare income have to pay double rent plus rates. Since 1987, 379 228 households have been affected and some 24 500 households are paying extra rent.
The Policy on Safeguarding Rational Allocation of Public Housing Resources was introduced in June 1996. It requires tenants paying double rent to declare the net value of their household assets at two-yearly intervals. In April 1997, some 1 300 households were invited to declare their household assets. Households whose assets exceed the prevailing Net Asset Limit which is 104 times the 1997 Waiting List Income Limit will have to pay market rent from April 1998.
In 1996, asset assessments on 16 000 households were completed. Among them, about 4 000 households had to pay market rent with effect from April 1997. Another 2 400 households either voluntarily surrendered their public rental housing flats to the Housing Authority or bought Home Ownership Scheme flats under a priority arrangement approved under the policy. Public rental housing flats recovered from these households are re-allocated to those in genuine need.
Although income limits are one of the eligibility criteria for public rental housing applicants on the waiting list, hitherto there have been no limits on assets, other than the restriction on ownership of private domestic property. To ensure that housing resources are allocated to people more in need, that is, to those who really cannot afford adequate housing in the private or subsidised home ownership sectors, limits on both income and assets will be set for all public housing applicants. Prospective tenants will be required in 1998, before entry, to undergo comprehensive means tests, covering both income and net assets. In addition, the government will not permit public rental tenancies to be passed on automatically from one generation to the next. Adult members of a family where the principal tenant and the spouse are both deceased will be required in 1998 to undergo comprehensive means tests, covering both income and net assets, before the grant of a new tenancy.
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