ENG-1976 — Page 131

HOUSING AND LAND

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housing estates while a further 145,400 people live in subsidised housing provided by the Hong Kong Housing Society—a voluntary government-aided organisation.

But the problem is far from solved and the government's target is to ensure that every family has a permanent, self-contained home at a price it can afford. This means replacing inadequate housing-in the early resettlement estates, private tenements and the remaining squatter areas and also building new homes to keep up with population growth. There is still a shortage of the right type of accommoda- tion and overcrowding is a serious social problem.

Early in 1976 the government announced its intention to promote home owner- ship in the lower-middle income groups by building 30,000 flats for sale within the public housing sector. A working party was set up to devise a practical scheme to be made available to people within and immediately above the income limits of eligibility for public housing. In November the Housing Authority announced that it was assured of the necessary sites and funds and it was going ahead with the plan- ning and construction of the first 6,000 flats. It is intended to build 5,000 flats a year. The first of the initial 6,000 are expected to be completed in 1979-80, and meantime the working party is to continue its study of how best to provide the necessary mortgage funds on reasonable terms, including easier mortgage interest rates. Many details of the non-profit-making scheme have still to be settled, including the exact definition of eligible households.

People eligible for public housing are divided into 11 categories: victims of fire and natural disasters; compassionate cases recommended by the Social Welfare Department or the Medical and Health Department; tenants of buildings demolished as dangerous; people in areas cleared for development; tenants of properties acquired for urban renewal; tenants of early housing estates under redevelopment; residents of licensed areas required for other uses; relief of overcrowding in public housing estates; waiting list applicants; junior civil servants and pensioners; and quarters for caretakers and shop tenants.

The Housing Authority

Subsidisation of public housing starts with the grant of land. The government grants building sites to the Housing Authority at prices substantially less than the prevailing market price, and funds are available from the Development Loan Fund at low interest-currently five per cent. Rents for new estates are fixed to cover building, management and maintenance costs.

The Housing Authority comprises the Secretary for Housing, 13 unofficial members (eight of whom are urban councillors) and six official members, all of whom are appointed by the Governor. The authority is a statutory corporation with respon- sibility for its own finances and management. Its principal task is to build and manage public housing estates but it also deals with squatter control and clearance and advises the government on housing policy.

The authority meets bi-monthly, but to ensure that business is despatched quickly, effectively and with minimal formality, five committees have been set up: the appeals,