Resettlement_Department_Annual_Report_1963-1964 — Page 36

1958, and varies according to the size of the site and the location of the area; for a typical site of 160 square feet the permit fee is $5 a quarter in outlying areas and $15 a quarter in the more central areas. If the permittee does not own the premises he is living in, he also pays rent either to the Government or to a welfare agency, or a hire-purchase instal- ment to a private owner. Rents for Government owned cottages arc $10 or $15 a month according to location.

88. A list of rents for all types of resettlement accommodation is given at Appendix VII. The rent for a standard room of 120 square feet in Mark I and II multi-storey blocks was fixed at $14 a month in 1954, when the first multi-storey buildings were constructed. The aim in fixing rents is to meet all annually recurrent costs and to recover the original capital cost, including land at half the upset price, in 40 years with com- pound interest at 31% per annum.

89. The cost of construction, including site formation and piling, of a seven-storey block containing 432 rooms, each of 120 square feet, was then $780,000 or about $1,806 a room, and to this figure was added the sum of $230,000 for a site of 23,000 square feet, and $15,600 for supervision by the Public Works Department (2% of the cost of con- struction), making a total of $1,025,600 or $2,374 a room. On the basis of these figures and on the assumption that the annual recurrent cost would amount to $17,200 for each block, the rent for each room was assessed at $13 a month, to which $1 a month was added for water.

90. The underlying principles set out above have been followed ever since, with the inclusion of rates in the all-in rent in the case of self- contained flats, which made their first appearance in 1957. The rents charged for Mark III accommodation, which began to come into occupa- tion during the year under review, are considerably higher than for standard Mark I and II flats, even making allowance for the improved facilitics. They include rates and water charges, itemized separately in the gross rent; they also reflect the substantial rise in building costs and administration during recent years and the increasing complexity and expense of site formation. A standard room of 129 square feet in a Mark III block in the urban arca costs $30 a month, made up of $23 rent, $5.50 rates and $1.50 water charge (a 50% reduction is allowed during periods of alternate day supply). The charge in the New Territories is slightly lower, $28, because rates are assessed at 11% of the rateable value against 17% for the urban area. By the end of the year, there was no evidence to show that squatters are generally unable to pay the higher rents, which are still considerably lower than for comparable accommoda-

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