squatter huts but old tenement buildings, in Temple Street, Shanghai Street, Reclamation Street, and Kansu Street. 3,881 people were resettled from these buildings and about 6.5 acres of land were freed for develop-
ment.
CHAPTER 5
THE COTTAGE AREAS
GENERAL
59. The first cottage areas were established in 1948 for squatters in central areas who were offered sites in more outlying districts which, it was then thought, would not be required for other development in the foreseeable future. There are now fifteen cottage areas in Kowloon, Hong Kong Island and the New Territories, containing 8,817 stone or brick cottages and 2,689 wooden huts, in addition to 294 shops and 95 workshops and factories. On 1st April, 1968 the total population was 72,986 authorized settlers and 13,520 'accepted unauthorized' persons. (Accepted unauthorized persons are those who came into the areas without authority and who are recorded in a departmental census of cottage areas made in 1963. By a decision of the Urban Council, they have been allowed to stay and will be eligible for resettlement when the area in which they live is redeveloped.) A list of the 15 cottage areas, with the population of each, is at Appendix 1.
60. The first buildings in the cottage areas were put up by the settlers themselves, but a number of welfare or non-profit-making organizations soon seized the opportunity to provide practical charitable assistance to people in need, and many of the cottages still standing were constructed by them. For example, the National Catholic Welfare Conference built 2,744 cottages, the Methodist Board of Missions 522, and the Church World Service 401; the Hong Kong Settlers Housing Corporation, a 1952 venture relying on both private donations and a measure of support from public funds, built over 1,500 cottages for sale to their occupants by hire purchase, a scheme which has long been com- pleted. Some voluntary agencies continue to administer their own cottages, collecting the rent, supervising the tenancies and carrying out all neces- sary maintenance under the general oversight of the department, but most agencies found it more convenient to transfer ownership of their cottages to the Government, to be administered by the Resettlement Department. Details of the rents and permit fees charged are in Chapter 9
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