ENG-1972 — Page 145

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LAND AND HOUSING

The total capital assets of the authority as at December 31, 1972 amounted to $362 million, of which $252 million was from government loans and grants and $110 million from internal resources. The policy of the authority has always been to fix rents for new estates as low as possible, well below the market value for comparable accommodation and covering only direct annual expenditure including a charge for amortisation of the capital cost and a small budgeted surplus to finance future schemes. To accelerate its building programme and to keep pace with rising costs, the authority increases the rents for its flats by about 10 per cent at intervals of not less than two years for old estates and within four years for new estates.

The Housing Authority maintains a combined waiting list from which to find tenants to fill vacancies in both Housing Authority and government low-cost housing estates. By the end of 1972, 42,329 applications had been passed for allocation, 95,805 rejected or withdrawn and 82,529 were waiting for investigation. To be eligible for registration, an applicant must have a family of at least four persons with a monthly family income, as assessed in accordance with the rules of the authority, of $400 to $1,250 for Housing Authority flats and not exceeding $500 for government low-cost housing flats. Government low-cost housing estates at Kwai Chung also cater for families of at least three persons including a married couple, or larger families of any approved combination, with a monthly income of not more than $600. 'Family income' is defined for this purpose as the total of the main or permanent emoluments accruing to the principal wage earner, together with half of such high proportion as the authority might decide from time to time, of his casual earnings and of earnings of other members of the family.

The Housing Authority also manages, for a fee, government officers' housing estates planned by the architectural staff of the authority but financed by the govern- ment for sale to local civil servants. So far, only one estate consisting of 296 flats at Lung Cheung Court is under its management. Another estate at Kwun Tong is nearing completion. The staff of the Housing Authority are all government servants working under the direction of the Commissioner for Housing. The authority reimburses all staff salaries to the government plus a percentage surcharge to meet such costs as pension and medical treatment.

As mentioned earlier in this chapter, the government plans to reconstitute the Housing Authority and to integrate the Resettlement Department and the staff of the present Housing Authority into a new Housing Department to service the new authority from April 1973. This new authority will undertake the functions of the present Housing Board and be responsible for the planning and construction, in conjunction with the Public Works Department, of a greatly accelerated new 10-year housing programme, as well as for the management of all existing estates currently under the control of the present Housing Authority and Resettlement Department.

The government provides certain of its staff with housing accommodation in accordance with their terms of service. Also, 15 per cent of the accommodation in government low-cost housing estates is offered to junior staff on the same tenancy terms as for the public. Government loans are made available to co-operative building societies formed among its staff to promote home-ownership. At the end of 1972 there were 232 societies with 4,884 members.