(v) Upon arrival in the Colony on first appointment or return from leave an
officer and his family may be accommodated in a hotel or alternative temporary accommodation until he obtains a quarter or a private tenancy. Government pays for the accommodation in an hotel within certain limits. The limits applicable to an individual officer depend upon his salary and the size and nature of his family. Every effort is made to ensure that newly-appointed officers are accommodated in hotels within their appropriate limits but if an officer and his family have to be accommodated in a higher category of room that they would normally be entitled to because of shortage of hotel rooms or some other unforeseen circumstances, the officer will not be asked to pay the difference in coat, Government charges the officer the same rent as would be charged for a Government quarter of the officer's salary grade. Charges other than for accommodation are payable by the officer. The officer pays all hotel service charges with the exception of half the 10% room service charge on the room rent which is paid by Government. In order to assist officers to meet hotel expenses, officers on arrival in Hong Kong may be granted hotel subsistence allowance at $18 a day for each eligible member of his family and $7.50 a day for each child of the age of three or under for the first calendar month. Thereafter the hotel subsistence allowance may be granted only when the officer has applied for but is unable to obtain quarters of his appropriate grades.
(vi) A block of service flats on Hong Kong Island and another in Kowloon provide
for single men and women who prefer this type of accommodation or who are waiting for a quarter. Married couples may apply if they wish. Normally single officers with a substantive salary below $6,140 p.m. are accommodated in a service flat instead of in an hotel on first appointment or return from leave, unless there are no service flats available. The flats are 2-roomed. self-contained furnished apartments with their own bathroom and limited cooking facilities. A communal lounge and dining room are also provided for residents who do not wish to cook their own meals. Officers in service flats pay, in addition to rent, a charge for service as well as the cost of electricity and water consumed.
(vii) Quarters and private tenancies are equipped with heavy furniture including
a cooker, refrigerator, portable fan and electric heater. Rent of quarters includes hiring charges for these items. An officer must supply his own curtains, carpets, linen, chair covers, crockery, cutlery, etc., and must pay for electricity, gas and water. Air conditioners are not supplied but many officers decide to air condition bedrooms at their own expense. Occupants of Government quarters do not pay rates. For officers who move into temporary (or for that matter permanent) quarters before their personal belongings arrive by sea an "emergency kit" of pots, pans, crockery, cutlery, cleaning implements, sheets, blankets, pillows, pillow cases and similar items are provided if required. The kit does not include curtains (because the shapes and sizes of windows vary considerably) or such items as chair and cushion covers.
(viii) When an officer proceeds overseas on vacation leave, his quarters revert to
the general pool unless he is receiving a substantive salary above $7,010 per month as at the date of his departure on vacation leave or will have completed over 15 years service at the date of his return from leave, in which case he is eligible to return to the same quarters after his leave if he so wishes, and if such quarters are not more than one grade above that appropriate to his salary.
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(1) Non-departmental and departmental quarters are mostly flats in blocks of from three to twelve stories though there are a few houses and bungalows. They vary from one bedroom "bachelor" flats to three bed- room "family" flats, and also according to grade. Some have separate living rooms and dining rooms and others combined living/dining rooms. Nearly all flats except the smallest have two bathrooms (or a bath- room and a shower-room), as well as kitchen, utility and storage
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