XN000022-1974-02-18 — Page 7

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Monday, February 18, 1974

RENT REVISION OF ESTATE WELFARE PREMISES EXPLAINED

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The increased rent on welfare premises would barely cover

servicing, management and maintenance expenses but would not result in

the Housing Authority realising any profit out of these lettings.

This was stated by Mr. Frank Carroll, Deputy Director of Housing

(Estate Management) this afternoon at the forum on "Public Housing Rental

Policy and Its Effects on Social Services" organised by the Hong Kong

Council of Social Service.

Previously, estates owned by the government - whether managed

by the Authority (Government low cost housing estates) or by the Resettlement

Department (rosettlement estates)

were charged a purely nominal rent

of $1 per month, regardless of size. Rates were additional to the rent

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in all cases where assessments were raised.

Mr. Carroll said when the new Authority came into being on

April 1 last year, much thought was given to whether it should subsidise

welfare services in the estates which was in fact a government function.

The Authority then decided that the rents of all such premises

had to be reconsidered to ensure that the true cost to government of

assisting these services in the estates would not be obscured by a hidden

Housing Authority subvention.

"These decisions were made in principle in July last year with the

intention that the various organisations should be notified that the now

rents would come into force on the termination of their existing fixed term

tenancies, where these existed, or on April 1 this year, whichever was later.

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