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HOUSING
and management charges, rates and general household incomes. At present, public housing rents are inclusive of rates and management and maintenance expenses. Public housing tenants pay, on average, 48 per cent of the assessed market rent (inclusive of rates) for the flats they live in.
The HKHA has established an Ad Hoc Committee on Review of Domestic Rent Policy to conduct a comprehensive review of its domestic rent policy. The objective is to map out a rent adjustment mechanism that is more flexible, draws a closer link with tenants' affordability and promotes the long-term sustainability of the public housing programme,
Rent Assistance
Public housing tenants facing temporary financial hardship may apply for a 50 per cent rent reduction under the Rent Assistance Scheme operated by the HKHA. The scheme was revised in October 2002 and the eligibility criteria for elderly households were relaxed. Tenants affected by redevelopment were also allowed to apply for rent assistance immediately upon rehousing. By year-end, 20 903 households had benefited from this scheme since its implementation in 1992.
Better-off Tenants
Better-off tenants are required to pay higher rents. At December 31, there were 14 879 households paying the higher rents. The subsidy saved through charging under this scheme amounted to $164 million in 2003. In addition, tenants living in estates for more than 10 years with both household income and assets exceeding the prescribed limits, or choosing not to declare household assets, are required to move out. In 2003, some 962 better-off tenants, including 503 households which acquired their own flats under the HOS, the Private Sector Participation Scheme (PSPS) or the HALS, returned their public rental housing flats to the HKHA.
Allocation
In 2003, 40 0914 rental flats were allocated by the HKHA and the HKHS to various categories of applicants. Of these flats, 19 944 were new and 19 966 refurbished: 70.11 per cent were allocated to Waiting List applicants, 1.56 per cent to tenants affected by the HKHA's Comprehensive Redevelopment Programme, 0.88 per cent to families affected by clearances, 2.46 per cent to junior civil servants, 24.92 per cent to sitting tenants for transfers including overcrowding relief, and the remainder to victims of fire and natural disasters and compassionate cases recommended by the Social Welfare Department.
Flats are allocated in accordance with the order of registration and applicants' choices of district. Applicants are required to satisfy comprehensive means tests (covering income and assets), not to own any domestic property and to meet the residence rule in Hong Kong before being admitted into public rental housing. To speed up the letting of some less popular flats, the HKHA launched the Express Flat Allocation Scheme and invited all eligible applicants on the Waiting List to select a flat from among the vacant flats, with prolonged vacancy periods, in all districts. During the year, 1 100 households were successfully rehoused under this scheme.
4 Including 181 Rent Allowance for Elderly Scheme cases.