ENG-1971 — Page 188

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LAND AND HOUSING

Up to the end of 1971, the society had provided 20,013 flats for 124,777 people in 15 estates. During the year, 1,223 flats were com- pleted, providing homes for 8,358 people. Other voluntary bodies in the housing field include the Hong Kong Settlers Housing Cor- poration Ltd, the Hong Kong Model Housing Society and the Hong Kong Economic Housing Society.

The Hong Kong Building and Loan Agency Limited, established in 1964, provides long-term loans for the purchase of domestic flats. In 1971, the agency had approved 57 developments for loan purposes. It also considers loan applications for flats in new buildings as well as secondhand flats of reasonable standards. During the year, 2,368 loan applications amounting to $83.3 million were approved, compared with $51.2 million for the previous year.

SQUATTER CONTROL AND CLEARANCE

All squatting on Crown land is by definition unlawful, but illegal structures are 'tolerated' if they were included in squatter surveys made from time to time, the latest being in 1964. When the land on which they stand is needed for development they are then cleared and their occupants resettled into the estates. 'Untolerated' structures are demolished, as are extensions to tolerated huts. People who are genuinely homeless may apply for a site in one of the Resettlement Department's licensed areas, on which they can build a hut on payment of a small licence fee.

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Industrial undertakings, operated in tolerated structures but also requiring open storage space and thus unsuitable for operation in resettlement flatted factories, may be offered sites in Class III licensed areas provided the trade falls within certain approved categories. A licence fee is charged at the rate of $1.80 per square foot per annum.

The squatter population continues to decrease gradually and at the end of 1971 was estimated to be about 407,836 compared with 463,000 in April 1965. Some 12,784 people were admitted to licensed areas during the year, and at the end of December the population of these areas stood at 35,458. Liaison officers of the Resettlement Department maintain close contact with squatters and, where neces- sary, arrange for minor public works.

The New Territories Administration is responsible for the control of squatters in the New Territories, with the exception of Tsuen Wan district where control has been transferred to the Resettlement Department. The more accessible parts of the New Territories are regularly patrolled and are divided into prohibited and non-pro- hibited areas. In prohibited areas, such as the margins of roads,