ENG-1972 — Page 143

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LAND AND HOUSING

The original seven-storey resettlement block design introduced in 1954 was abandoned 10 years later. A new design provided blocks, first of eight storeys and then of 16, which differ fundamentally from the older ones in that access is from a central corridor on each floor instead of from external common balconies. This makes it possible to give each room a private balcony. Other improvements include refuse chutes, electrical power and light points in domestic rooms, lifts in the 16- storey blocks and private lavatories and water taps in place of the former communal latrines and wash-houses. The latest blocks are being built to a larger room-grid to give effect to a Housing Board recommendation that families should be allocated 35 square feet of space for each adult on occupation. By the end of 1972, the total number of blocks of all types administered by the Resettlement Department was 508. Between them these blocks housed 1,175,771 people, some 55.3 per cent of them in the newer types.

In 1970 work was completed on converting a block in an old estate into self- contained flats, each with its own lavatory and water supply and some with their own balconies. The success of this pilot scheme has led to plans to redevelop other old estates where the environment has deteriorated seriously, and a start has already been made at Shek Kip Mei, the oldest multi-storey estate. Tenants of six blocks in this estate have already moved to a brand-new government estate nearby, to allow the first phase of the redevelopment work to begin. The whole scheme, which is due for completion in 1979, involves the conversion of 21 out of 29 blocks into self- contained units, and the demolition of the remainder to make way for new commercial, social and community facilities.

Rents in the resettlement estates have been fixed at the lowest possible level, the aim being to recover capital costs over 40 years (at 34 per cent interest), plus annually recurrent expenditure including the cost of administration and maintenance. Rents vary according to the design of the block and the size of the room: the rent of a standard room of 120 square feet in the oldest type of block is $18 a month, while the rent of a standard room of 140 square feet in a new block is $38. Despite the large population and the wide variety of rents charged, the number of tenants failing to pay is extremely small.

The resettlement estates are virtually townships (the population of Tsz Wan Shan estate, for instance, is around 144,600) and a wide range of community facilities must be provided. Some ground floor rooms are let as shops or workshops, while others are used by government departments or private welfare organisations such as schools, clinics or nurseries. In the newer estates, separate six-storey buildings are provided for primary school accommodation and, in the latest blocks, provision has been made for self-contained kindergarten accommodation. Some estates have com- munity centres and, in the latest ones, the tendency is to concentrate ancillary services into separate buildings for welfare services, restaurants and administration.

Provision is also made for the small factories which are often found in squatter areas or in areas under annual Crown land permits. To enable the operators of these factories to continue earning a livelihood when these areas are cleared for permanent development, multi-storey resettlement factory blocks have been built.