the eight Class I/Class II licensed areas which were 'set aside' in December held some 7,000 people. Unlike the resite areas, the occupants of licensed areas are required to pay a licence fee of $4 a month for a domestic site in a Class I area and $3 in a Class II area. There has been no opposition to the payment of these fees. Indeed, the indications are that by paying a fee and obtaining a licence resitees feel more securely established. Altogether 28,076 people were resited during the year, before December into the old resite areas and thereafter to the licensed areas. A breakdown of the various categories of persons resited is given in paragraph 39.
15. The rent advance scheme for the tenants of dangerous buildings showed some falling-off in popularity, mainly because of the lack of resettlement accommodation in central Kowloon and on Hong Kong Island, coupled with the better opportunities of obtaining alternative accommodation in the private sector. Of the 12,400 people registered by the Resettlement Department during the year, 2,801 elected to join the scheme and obtain immediate resettlement, 1,053 were resited (while preserving their right to join within one year), and the remaining 8,546 held their option open but found their own accommodation.
16. The aftermath of the 1965 banking crisis continued to be felt for much of the year, but by the end of the period much of the ground lost had been recovered. Despite the slow progress with site formation for some estates and the completion of some blocks in others, three new domestic estates (two in the New Territories and one on Hong Kong Island) came into occupation, and the number of domestic blocks managed by the department rose from 388 to 422. In addition, four new factory blocks were taken over, bringing the total nett working space available in all factories to 1.9 million square feet. Mainly because of the slowdown in development clearances already mentioned, allied to an increase in the supply of cheap private flatted factory accommodation and the bleaker economic climate for marginal producers, demand for factory space slackened during the year and there is likely to be a lull in further new building for the next year or two.
17. The period under review saw a nett increase of just over 90,000 people in resettlement estates. A notable feature was the rapidly-growing percentage living in the better types of resettlement accommodation, the Mark III and IV blocks. By the end of the year there were 182 blocks of these improved designs, housing about 30% of the total estate popula- tion. The Mark IV improved type of block, with a water-tap in each
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