appeals made to the tribunal against termination would be any greater than the sixteen received by the appeals committee
the year ending March 31, 1976.34
(2)
Discretionary power to transfer compulsorily a tenant
to smaller accommodation
As each tenancy in public housing estates provides for a monthly tenancy, the Authority is able to insist that a tenant quit his flat and move to alternative accommodation on one month's notice. In practice, the only occasion when transfers are made other than at the request of a tenant occur when a tenant's family is reduced in number by death, the marriage of his children, or for any other reason.
The Authority once described its attitude to under- occupation of flats in its annual report as follows:
་
"There are..
flats in the estates which become under- occupied as a result of family members moving away. It is frequently found that the remaining occupants of these flats are unwilling to move to smaller flats to release the accommodation for larger families, and although this reluctance is understandable, it has to be overcome for the general good.'55
Thus, if fewer than the designated number of persons occupy a flat, prima facie the tenant will be required to move. However, at present the Authority does not enforce a compulsory transfer to smaller accommodation unless a flat has more than two residents fewer than its designated number.36 For example, a family will not be required to move from a seven-person flat provided that there is a minimum of five occupants.
The issue of whether a tenant should be transferred against his will when his family reduces in number is not straight- forward. The attitude of the Authority is that it is unreasonable for a tenant to occupy a larger flat than he requires bearing in mind the chronic overcrowding suffered by many persons on the waiting list for accommodation. However, three contrary arguments can be advanced. First, tenants in the private sector are not forced to move when their family diminishes in number; provided that the rent is paid, a tenant may occupy as much space as he wishes. It can be argued that a tenant in public housing should not be subjected to greater restriction than
34 ibid, 30.
35 Hong Kong Housing Authority, Annual Report 1966-67 11.
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86
* See note 20, above.
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