ENG-1986 — Page 185

HOUSING

153

Construction

For the seventh successive year, the authority has achieved its annual production target of 35 000 flats. The construction programme is now firmly geared to producing 228 400 flats over the next five years comprising 171 800 public rental flats, 32 000 Home Ownership flats, and 24 600 flats to be built under the Private Sector Participation Scheme.

During the year, 30 building contracts with a total value of $3,460 million were let. New housing sites have been identified which, together with sites already allocated for the housing programme, ensure that the current level of housing production will be maintained well beyond 1990.

Since the introduction of 'mechanised' construction methods in 1985, the quality of construction workmanship has improved significantly and 'mechanisation' has gained increasing popularity among local contractors. In order to sustain this momentum, a 'Large Panel Formwork Programme' has been introduced. This allows contractors to continue using the equipment acquired under the 'mechanised construction programme'. To improve standards further, tighter quality control measures were implemented during the year. These included the setting up of a Material Testing Laboratory within the Housing Department to carry out testing of materials used on construction sites.

The Computer Aided Draughting and Design (CADD) System installed in the Housing Authority Headquarters a year ago has improved the efficiency in the design of housing projects, and action is in hand to expand the system.

Home Ownership Scheme

The Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) is administered by the Housing Authority with funds from the government to provide reasonably priced flats for sale to public housing tenants and to lower-middle income families in the private sector. Since the Phase 1 sales exercise started in 1978, a total of 77 175 flats built under the HOS and the related Private Sector Participation Scheme (PSPS) have been sold to eligible families. About 42 per cent of these families were public housing tenants who, although not subject to restrictions on incomes and property ownership, were required to surrender their flats for reallocation to families in greater need of public housing. Another two per cent of these families were prospective public housing tenants who were residents of temporary housing and cottage areas, wait- ing list applicants, households displaced by clearance of squatter areas for development and natural disaster victims.

These families, together with public housing tenants, were accorded 'Green Form' priority status to buy HOS flats. Successful applicants from this category have to give up their eligibility for public rental housing. For applicants from the private sector, the maximum family income limit was raised from $7,500 to $8,500 per month to keep these flats within the reach of the target population.

Improved mortgage arrangements for prospective purchasers of HOS flats were also revised during the year. The financial institutions are now prepared to extend the maximum mortgage repayment period from 15 to 20 years and the maximum amount of loan from 90 to 95 per cent of flat price for 'Green Form' applicants.

Two sales were held during the year for a total of 9 588 flats. The first sale (Phase 8B) was held in May, when 3 718 HOS flats and 2 180 PSPS flats were offered. HOS flat prices ranged from $154,600 for a 43-square-metre (gross area) flat at Lung Poon Court, Diamond Hill, to $353,300 for a 58-square-metre flat at Po Lai Court, Sham Shui Po. Prices for the PSPS flats were in the range of $250,100 for a 48-square-metre flat to $443,700 for one of 67 square metres, all in Kornhill in Quarry Bay.