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9.
To achieve a fair calculation of the rental
chargeable to tenants of domestic public housing, it would seen more equitable to take into account the revenue generated from non-domestic public housing, as the viability and marketability of the non-domestic units are hinged largely on the existence
of domestic units.
10.
The proposed amount of increment fixed at a ceiling of 15% of median family income should also take into account of the facilities, amenities, locality and age of that particular estate. The extra revenue generated should not only be used on improvements to the environment and facilities of all housing estates, but also be spent on future expansion of the public housing programme. Furthermore, special attention should be directed to the impact of the increment to the lower income group so that no undue hardship would be caused by the proposed changes. To achieve the social objective as stated in the Report, I would suggest a special committee to be established to consider hardship cases suffered by tenants of lower income group to determine whether that particular tenant would merit the waiving of such rental increment.
11.
It is apparent that Hong Kong is now becoming an affluent society. However, a lot our middle income group still find it hard to make ends meet because they are not entitled to public housing nor are they qualified under the Home Ownership Scheme. I would suggest the Government to explore the possibility of conferring some tax advantage to our taxpayer so that they can set off their mortage interests against their personal income tax. I believe such a proposal would no doubt lessen the demand on public housing and the Home Ownership
Scheme.
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