ENG-1953 — Page 132

HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT, 1953

All this is on the credit side of the ledger. On the debit side, it must be recorded that many hundreds of old, dark, ill-ventilated Chinese type tenement houses are still over- crowded-which means that there is one family to every 64 sq. ft. or so of floor area, each living space being defined by the erection of flimsy partitions forming cubicles. One kitchen and one latrine may be shared by six and even eight or more families. Of these buildings, many are extremely dilapidated due to neglect of maintenance, and the number of statutory notices which have to be served on the owners of these properties, to carry out essential repairs, is lamentably high.

The problem of the squatter areas has been given special consideration and a very great deal has been done in the resettlement of the occupants in properly controlled sites. Reference to this work occurs on pages 12 and 106. In a number of cases the areas formerly occupied by the squatters' huts are now scenes of activity in connexion with permanent building development.

Excluding the New Territories, buildings in the Colony are controlled by the Buildings Ordinance. This was first enacted in 1903 (Public Health & Buildings Ordinance 1903) and was revised in 1935. This Ordinance is now being re-written and it is hoped that the revised edition will be introduced in the near future.

In an attempt to speed up the provision of permanent housing, Government is considering the creation of a Housing Authority. It is also sponsoring schemes for housing groups of locally recruited civil servants on a co-operative basis. These limited adventures into the field of low cost housing have not, however, had any appreciable effect on the housing shortage or on general rental levels but they are providing

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