ENG-1958 — Page 199

166

HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT

somewhat lower than in other schemes). Two 24-classroom schools are included within the estate, and the total capital cost of the scheme will be in the region of $50,000,000. This 19-acre site slopes from north to south and the blocks, most of which face south over the harbour, will be on different levels and so enjoy adequate light and air. There will be plenty of covered play areas and open recreation space.

Planning of a fourth estate, the architects for which are Messrs. Palmer & Turner, to be built on a 20-acre site to the north-east of Kai Tak Airport, has started, and a topographical survey finished. A fifth site, of about 10 acres, at Ma Tau Chung, Kowloon, has also been reserved for the Authority's use, and development of this area is now being planned.

Concurrently with planning and building, work has continued on the selection of tenants for the Authority's flats, on the basis of a points scheme, in which the most important factor is the applicant's housing need, though other factors, e.g. tuberculosis in the family, are also taken into account. At present applications are only considered from persons over 21 years of age who have lived in Hong Kong continuously since July 1948, and who have a total family income of between $300 and $900 a month. By the end of 1958, 43,051 application forms had been issued, and 22,580 completed forms had been received from applicants who apparent- ly satisfied the basic conditions. Completed forms are now being returned at a fairly constant rate of about 90 a week. A consider- able volume of work is involved in visiting applicants in their homes (undertaken by specially-trained staff) in order to check the particulars given and collect further relevant information, and by the end of the year 9,382 of these visits had been made, in addition to 10,144 personal interviews given at the head office on points of difficulty.

As mentioned earlier in this chapter, the Special Committee on Housing, under the chairmanship of the Commissioner for Housing, rendered its Final Report during 1958. The Committee concentrated on the situation in the urban area and presented not only a detailed and factual picture of the housing situation and the needs of the population, but also its recommendations as to the measures, both direct and indirect, which the Government