TNAG-0912-FCO40-1122-Policy-on-housing-and-resettlement-in-Hong-Kong-1979 — Page 167

Rent Levels

The rent levels on public housing estates were discussed in previous briefings.

(a) Rents paid by all public housing tenants,

expressed in proportion to incomes, has decreased considerably over the past decade;

(b) A very large percentage of the present housing

stock is let at fairly low rents;

(c) The great majority of tenants pay less than 10% of their income in rent, in contrast to the private sector where only a minority have this advantage;

(d) The trend of estate rents increases at a much

lower rate than both incomes and private sector rents.

The rents of pre-1973 estates, for which rent increases have been applied every two years, are beginning to overlap with the lower post-1973 estate rents, which have not had an increase, in most cases, since the estates were first constructed.