ENG-1985 — Page 195

HOUSING

143

At present, the system of control is based on the structure rather than occupancy. To minimise the commitment for public housing, a new measure was introduced in April whereby newcomers were prevented from moving into structures vacated by the original occupants upon their obtaining a public housing unit through the general waiting list.

A territory-wide survey to register all occupants of squatter huts was completed in September. A total of 123 626 families, comprising 477 189 people, were recorded. The results of the registration exercise should enable the eligibility for permanent housing to be tightened up by requiring registered occupancy of the structure to be an additional criterion.

Clearance

The year saw 400 hectares of land cleared for development, and the beginning of the non-development clearance programme: the clearance of squatters from sites not required for development projects with priority being given to huts on dangerous slopes.

This resulted in the rehousing of 37 700 people – 24 800 into permanent housing and the remainder into temporary housing. In addition, 700 workshops and other commercial undertakings were paid ex-gratia allowances on clearance. During the year, 3 900 people had to be rehoused as a result of fires, landslides and other emergencies.

To facilitate forward planning, a 10-year clearance programme has been drawn up, matching the anticipated housing demand arising from clearance operations with the projected supply of housing stock. The intention is to clear all squatter concentrations in the urban area within the next 10 years.

Improvements to Squatter Areas

The squatter area improvement programme continued to concentrate on the large and more densely populated squatter settlements in the urban areas, including those in Tsuen Wan, with a total of 15 projects undertaken to improve safety and basic services.

All major urban squatter areas have now been divided into smaller units by the creation of firebreaks, which, together with the installation of fire hydrants and fire mains, have made an appreciable improvement to safety in these areas.

Since the start of the squatter area improvement programme in 1983, about 70 000 squatters have benefitted from a total of 31 projects costing $42 million.

Management of Private Residential Buildings in Multiple Ownership

Privately owned buildings constitute more than half of the territory's housing stock and accommodate about half of the population. The vast majority of these buildings are high rise blocks which are held in multiple ownership by a number of owners, who may or may not be residents of the building.

The nature of ownership of these buildings, combined with other factors, has resulted in a situation over the years where the management of some private properties has deterio- rated to an extent which is most undesirable.

Although the management of privately owned buildings is, strictly speaking, the respon- sibility of property owners, the consequences of consistent neglect are of serious concern to the government.

In view of this situation, the government is taking steps to provide assistance to private management bodies, in order to stimulate a more effective, self-help process among property owners and tenants. The nature of this assistance is both legislative and administrative.

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