ENG-1959 — Page 212

172

HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT

and the Colony was already facing a further large influx of immigrants consequent upon the changing position in China.' In recent years there has been a building boom, but in the field of housing its effect has been less than might be imagined, since much of the new building represents redevelopment of old property. In this way, since the war, about 72,000 new units of domestic accommodation have been built, making a total of about 131,700 units existing in the urban area; not including resettlement blocks, buildings occupied by the Services, illegal structures or temporary buildings on permit. The average rate of the provision of additional domestic units over the past three years is about 9,000 a year, of which 3,260 are tenement floors. At the present time tenement floors, of which there is a total of about 93,726, are usually sub-divided by the owner or principal tenant into three, four or more cubicles, each housing a single family, but in sub- standard and overcrowded conditions. If it is assumed that each additional domestic unit can reasonably accommodate ten persons, the average rate of provision would house 90,000 persons a year, whereas the annual increase in population is now averaging about 120,000.

=

The majority of post-war housing is of reinforced concrete construction with concrete floors, roofs and stairs. There are still approximately 20,000 premises built before 1903 which have no modern sanitary facilities and which constitute the core of the slums. Some 7,000 of these, mainly in the central districts of Hong Kong Island, are back-to-back houses with wooden stairs, which present a considerable fire risk.

Some indication of living conditions in relation to housing is shown in the results of a Housing Survey conducted by the Hong Kong University in 1957 at the request of the Special Committee. This survey covered most of the regular housing of the urban area, occupied by 1,265,000 persons in 267,000 households. The survey showed that 56% of the households had a family income below $300 a month, and 79% had an income below $600 a month. Nevertheless, 32.3% were paying from $40 to $150 a month for rent, rates and services. 79% of all households were sharing the accommodation they occupied. 95,000 households were living in cubicles, 43,000 in bedspaces, 8,000 in cocklofts and 4,000 on