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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

accommodation for families on a basis of at least 35 sq. ft. of living

space per person.

And that is not all!

Government has recently commenced a new low-cost housing programme, with the Housing Authority as the manag- ing agency, for families earning less than $300 monthly. Fifteen per cent of the accommodation in this programme will be reserved for Civil

Servants.

Additionally, Government has loaned out more than $100 million to finance the Civil Servants' Co-operative Housing Schemes.

Then there is the very great contribution made by private enter prise to the domestic building programme. It is estimated that con- struction in this sector is running at a rate which can accommodate 90,000 persons per annum, from which must be deducted accommoda- tion lost as a result of old or post-war buildings demolished under exemption orders.

Yet in spite of these various programmes by Government and private enterprise, we find that there is still serious overcrowding and a housing shortage for about 750,000 people. It is therefore not at all surprising that there is a hue-and-a-cry against spiralling rents in privately-owned domestic and shop premises. Apparently, the law of supply and demand is so all-pervasive in privately-owned premises that for many (though not all) landlords, the rule-of-thumb approach is to take "what the traffic can bear”.

High rentals may be regarded from another point of view as one of the primary reasons for serious overcrowding in new multi-storey privately-owned buildings. I am told that over one-third of the people living in new multi-storey tenement buildings are in even more over- crowded conditions than in the resettlement estates. This is not an altogether happy state of affairs, because it means, in effect, that as fast as old slum tenements are being demolished, new ones are being created on a more formidable scale.

What can be done to alleviate the present "gravely inadequate" housing, and in the process bring about greater stability of rents, so that this Council can look forward to the time when in the interest of public health and hygiene, it can enforce suitable regulations govern. ing overcrowding?

With regard to rents, Government has enacted the six-month rent pause bill so as to give it time to study the problem in detail. Mean- while, many organizations have expressed their views to Government on the subject. One suggestion whch commands wide support is that Fair Rent Tribunals should be established to prevent excessive rent increases

HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

and victimization of tenants.

149

Whether this is to be done by the Hous-

ing Authority or by the Tenancy Section of the Secretariat of Chinese Affairs or by some other body is immaterial. The essential point is that until Government and private enterprise can build sufficient accom- modation to keep rents on a stabi: keel, Government has a moral duty to provide tenants with reasonable security of tenure and protection

against excessive rent increases.

I believe the time is now ripe, Mr. Chairman, for Government to designate a public body to advise Government on housing policy, and to keep under constant review and to coordinate Government's entire public housing programme. This task could be assigned by Government either to the Urban Council, which is so vitally concerned with all aspects of community health and welfare, or alternatively to the Housing Authority, which already has the nucleus of a planning team that is capable of expansion for the purpose proposed.

I am afraid that the time is long past due when Government's housing policy and public housing programme should continue to be directed by two or three persons in the Colonial Secretariat, no matter how able, sincere and efficient those individuals might be. The advan- tage of having a public body such as the Urban Council or the Housing Authority is that the views expressed there would be more representative of and closely attuned to the housing needs and aspirations of the community.

Before concluding, Mr. Chairman, I would like to make brief re- ference to four vital aspects of the Colony's housing policy which would require urgent review by whichever public body is designated by Government.

Firstly, as is well accepted, Government is now the community's biggest and fastest growing landlord. At the current rate of resettlement and low-cost housing expansion, Government will be landlord to one- third of the population within another five years. While I do not propose to discuss today the merits and demerits of such a trend, I do wish to stress that there is room for the encouragement of building societies in Hong Kong for families earning $900 and more per month. According to the Census Report, the total flat-owning population was about 165,000, represented by 32,211 heads of households. This is a healthy trend, which should be given more practical encouragement by Government, since it should be borne in mind that nearly 1.5 million of our population are local-born, with permanent roots in Hong Kong. I can think of nothing better to promote good citizenship and com- munity stability, to improve public health and hygiene, and to reduce overcrowding as well, than to give a family the change to buy their own home or flat through a building society or other similar type of institution.