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enable them to pay the rent. If it decided that they were well able to afford the rent, they would have to pay it themselves or surrender their Government housing.

A costs policy of this kind would, of course, have to face a number of problems. Our motley assortment

of resettlement, low-cost housing and Housing Authority estates would, for example, pose initial difficulties. But these difficulties would diminish with time and eventually vanish as a phased consolidation of all Government housing was carried out.

Furthermore, the calculation of costs would not be as complicated as one might at first glance fear, as they should, in my opinion, be based on Housing Authority costs and not on a hodge-podge of Housing Authority, resettlement and low-cost housing costs.

I would like to emphasize at this point that the unified control and administration which His Excellency spoke about will lose its meaning if it does not bring with it what I may call professionalism. In saying this, it is not my intention to cast a slur on the abilities of the admin- istrative officers who have directed the Resettlement Department in the last two decades. It should be obvious, however, that one cannot expect from administrative officers who are constantly being trans- ferred from one department to another, and who do not have specialist knowledge or training, the techniques and skill of a pro- fessional officer.

This point is exemplified by the figures for costs of Housing Authority and resettlement estates. Maintenance and depreciation for the more expensive Housing Authority estates amount to con- siderably less than those for Resettlement Estates. The objective will therefore be to ensure that the phased consolidation I have mentioned leads eventually to the concept of professionalism being applied to the administration of all estates.

Another problem is that a rental policy based solely on main- tenance and depreciation would produce no funds for general revenue for the establishment of the additional new estates which have been or will be programmed. I would suggest that after a tenant has lived in an estate for a certain length of time say 5 years he should be asked to pay rent calculated on the basis, not only of the two factors of maintenance and depreciation, but also of a third fund-raising element.

Obviously, this third element would to some extent be an arbitrary figure, inasmuch as it could be calculated in various ways. In order to give some idea of what I have in mind, I have calculated how much Housing Authority tenants would have to pay in increased rental

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for the Housing Authority's current ten-year building programme, and I have found it to amount to about $30.00 per month for the average Housing Authority flat, that is to say, about $6.00 per month per

person.

A rental figure increased by an amount of these dimensions would clearly not be inordinately high for the average tenant who had already had the benefit of subsidized housing for 5 years or more. Neverthe- less, it might well be that there would be some tenants unable to afford They should have the right to apply for exemption, this higher rental. supporting their application with a statutory declaration as to means. If exemption were granted, they would continue to pay the lower rental based solely on maintenance and depreciation.

In proposing this, I am well aware of the arguments that have been raised in the past against means tests. It has been asserted that they would be costly, complicated, unreliable and conducive to corrup- tion. I do not consider these arguments well-founded.

What seems to be overlooked is that means tests have been carried out by the Housing Authority all along. Every applicant for housing And so far there have been no serious goes through a means test. complaints or allegations as to malpractices or corruption. Further- more, there has been no indication that such tests have been too costly or complicated to be satisfactorily administered. This may well stem from the fact that the concept of professionalism I have previously referred to has been applied to Housing Authority administration. I cannot see, therefore, that having means tests at the later stage I have suggested would involve any greater difficulties. On the contrary, one might expect some gain in the field of reliability. A tenant who knows that the penalty for a false declaration may be eviction, among other things, will be less likely to lie than an applicant for housing whose main fear is of being rejected. Further, will he risk eviction or attempt bribery when all that he can gain is about $30.00 a month, a sum well within his means?

At what point, it may be asked, should the new rental policy I have outlined be applied to an estate? The simple answer is as soon as the estate conforms to the new housing standards that are laid down.

As for the rest, I have heard it suggested that the provision of acceptable housing with security of tenancy will pose such an attraction that we shall be flooded with illegal immigrants. I do not think that this prognostication of peril needs to be taken too seriously, but in any event it is a question of immigration control unconnected with housing itself.

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