XN000022-1996-11-06 — Page 46

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(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

of the estimated annual number of elderly people in need of public housing, and the estimated number of public rental units provided to elderly people annually, in the period between 1996/97 to 2000/01;

whether, given that the Progress Report published by the Government this year points out that there are 27,000 elderly people living in sub- standard accommodation who are not registered on the Housing Authority's waiting list, the Housing Department will take the initiative to register such elderly people for public housing;

whether the Housing Department has estimated the waiting time for the 27,000 elderly people mentioned in (b) above to be allocated housing units after they have been registered as waiting list applicants; if so, what the average waiting time is;

of the number of elderly singletons who have been on the waiting list for two years or more and have no particular preference for the location of the housing unit but who have not been allocated housing units for the elderly, in each of the past three years, despite the pledge made by the Government in the Policy Commitments of the 1994 Policy Address that all elderly singletons would be allocated public housing within two years; and;

of the average waiting time for an elderly singleton who opts for a single-person public housing unit to be allocated a unit?

Answer:

Mr President,

We plan to provide sufficient public rental flats to meet the projected demand of 34,500 elderly people during the period from 1996-97 to 2000-01, as follows:

1996-97

1997-98

1998-99

1999-00

2000-01

Elderly people

7,100

6,200

4,800

7,400

9,000

About 22,000 elderly people will be accommodated in one-person flats or flats under the Housing for Senior Citizens Scheme, and the remaining 12,500 will share public housing flats with other elderly people.