INTAKE PROCEDURE
49. During the year 17 completed blocks were taken over from the Public Works Department. A new procedure was introduced, by which estate staff inspect each individual room and check that fittings are in order, before accepting the keys. The blocks are then locked and patrolled by departmental watchmen. Two weeks before the day of clearance, the Clearance Sub-Division send lists of families to the Resettlement Officer-in-Charge of the estate, and the latter allocates rooms of suitable sizes for each family, as far as possible filling up the block by floors from bottom to top. On pre-arranged days, groups of 36 families arrive at the estate office where they are fully briefed on tenancy conditions, pay the first month's rent, water and electricity deposits, receive their keys and are shown their new rooms by the block caretaker.
50. Most families do not move in immediately, but arrange for their rooms to be decorated. Because of the poor basic room finish, new tenants almost invariably embark on an extensive scheme of decora- tion for their new rooms. These decorations, which are undertaken by private contractors and often cost up to $1,000 a room, cause a con- siderable management problem. During the year, as part of measures for improving the intake procedure, more stringent control was intro- duced. Tenants were permitted to plaster the walls, but not to install windows on the balcony, since this obstructs ventilation, nor to tile the floors during the initial six months maintenance period. Tenants were also made fully responsible for the activities of the contractors employed by them against a decoration deposit of $50 per room.
RENT CHASING
51. The major tenancy problem in estates is to ensure the prompt payment of rent. Rents are due monthly in advance and are payable at the estate rent office. During the year, a large number of office attend- ants were recruited and the layout of several rent offices was improved with a view to providing a speedier service to tenants. In addition, however, a considerable amount of the block officers' time was spent in chasing rents, a process which starts with an initial reminder on the fifteenth of the month and ends with an eviction notice at the end of the second month. 150,412 warning letters on this subject were issued, and the tenancies of 264 families terminated during the year for non-
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