TNAG-1727-FCO40-2440-Minutes-and-Hansards-of-the-Legislative-Council-of-Hong-Kong-1988 — Page 288

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committed in its policy to

encourage more home ownership SO

Per cont that by the end of the century, 80%) 0 €

of our citizens would be

living in their own homes. This I believe is a highly

T

desirable social objective that is worth planning for and

attaining.

In this connection, the Government should make

continuous efforts

to keep mor

morgage rates on home ownership schemes for our middle and lower income groups as steady and affordable as possible.

Another area of priority has to do with the

redevelopment programme for the older public rental estates

where 125,000 families now reside. 1 am concerned that this

the decade will not be completed in the

into the next century. Even

many bider

redevelopment

1905

of the e but will

programme

drag

today, environmental conditions in these bider estates are, in my opinion not good enough for modern Hong Kong. I would

urge that the revamped Housing Authority keep this

red

rodevelopment programme very much in mind. The support and

cooperation of the private building sector in the implementation of the redevelopment programme should be

л

fully explored.

A further point worth stressing is that any demand-led

strategy in the older public rental estates in urban Kowloon

take into account changing environmental conditions and the growing interest for carlier urban renewal.

must

In a nutshell, as I understand it, the reorganized Housing Authority's objectives, with the cooperation of the

private real estate sector will be to:

л

be

a) satisfy the demand for Public Rental Housing by the year

1995,

-

b) meet the demand for home ownership by the year 2001 how much more chllenging it would be if that could be mer

1997, and

bafore