t
7
estates which represent a small fraction of the total public
housing stock, the overall ratio will not be affected
significantly.
Mr. HUI Yin-fat has suggested that the biennial
rent increases would bring rents beyond the affordability
of the majority of public housing tenants over time. A comparison
on the movements of public housing rents and the consumer
price index shows that public housing rents have barely kept
up with inflation and have remained fairly stable in constant
price over the years. In contrast to the steadily improving
financial circumstances of the public housing tenants who
have resided in public housing for some time, rents have
lagged behind the real growth in the income of the average
tenants.
Mr. TAM Yiu-chung has raised the question of
comparison of public housing rent with those in the private
sector. I should point out that "rent" for public housing
is not really comparable to private sector rent as the former
includes rates (representing 16% and 25% of inclusive rents
for Group A and Group B estates respectively) as well
as management fees and other major repair and maintenance
charges. These are normally paid for by tenants separately
in the private sector. Even so, the present rent level in
/public
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.