ENG-1965 — Page 165

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LAND AND HOUSING

were too poor to be able to build or purchase the type of cottage required. This difficulty was partly overcome by the construction of cottages by welfare organizations which rented them to approved settlers, either direct or through the government, or accepted pay- ment for them by instalments. But the fundamental objection re- mained that this form of resettlement was uneconomic in both land and money and could not be used on a scale which would make any real impact on the squatter problem as a whole.

In 1954, after a disastrous squatter fire at Shek Kip Mei in which 53,000 people lost their homes, there was a drastic change in policy. A Resettlement Department was set up to co-ordinate the duties of squatter control and clearance which had previously been under- taken by several different departments. Government funds were then provided to build multi-storey accommodation blocks into which squatters could be resettled. These blocks, designed and built by the Public Works Department, were kept as simple as possible so that they could be put up quickly and let at rents which the squatters could afford.

Basically each new building was in the form of an 'H' with com- munal washing and latrine facilities on each of the seven floors. Individual rooms varied in size from just under 100 square feet to just over 300 square feet, with the majority being of 120 square feet designed to house a family of four or five adults. Twenty-four square feet for an adult was taken as the minimum requirement for health. With minor modifications, though with an improved external appearance, 240 of these blocks (known as Mark I and II) had been built before the design was superseded in 1964.

To ensure that economical use was made of the available space, rooms were allocated according to the size of the family rather than the rent they could afford. Rents were fixed at the lowest possible level to cover reimbursement of the capital cost of the building over 40 years (at 3 per cent per annum compound interest) plus an element for management, land and water costs. The rent of a stand- ard 120 square feet room was fixed at $14 a month. Electricity, if it was installed at a tenant's request, was at his own expense; com- munal lighting was provided by the government. Largely because of the increased cost of administration and water, rents for all Mark I and II rooms were (for the first time) raised during the year, the rent of a standard room going up from $14 a month to $18.

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