ENG-1986 — Page 188

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HOUSING

Information from the waiting list and on the allocation of accommodation has been computerised. Information regarding nearly three million applicants and tenants is stored in the Housing Applications and Tenancies Management Information System. Computeri- sation enables housing allocations and duplication checks to be carried out effectively and produces useful statistical information for management.

The 12 261 flats allocated to waiting list applicants during the year were located mostly in Tai Po, Fanling, Sha Tin, and Yuen Long. Waiting time varied from six years for estates in Sha Tin to three years for those in Yuen Long.

Applications from families of two persons or more were considered in the order of registration and in accordance with the choice of districts indicated by the applicants. Accommodation was offered to those who, on investigation, were found eligible in respect of their family income and other reasons. The income limits were fixed having regard to the average household expenditure, plus the rent for self-contained accommodation in the private sector. Currently, the income limits range from $4,200 for a family of two to $7,400 for a family of 10 or more. The number of live applications at the end of the year stood at 165 997.

Since the establishment of the Single Persons Waiting List in 1985, the number of live ap- plications at the end of the year stood at 16 000. The current income limit for them is $2,900. The Housing Authority provides a priority scheme for elderly couples or single elderly persons applying in groups of two or more to be allocated public housing within two years. So far, 3 969 flats have been allocated to this category. In 1982, the authority approved an incentive scheme under which families with elderly members were allocated housing one year ahead of their normal waiting time, and each year about 1 000 families benefit from this scheme. In 1986, the Housing Authority introduced a Sheltered Housing Scheme for the able-bodied elderly, for which a warden service was provided to deal with emergencies. The first 138 units will be available for allocation in March 1987 in Heng On Estate, Ma On Shan, Sha Tin. Allocation will be made to applicants attaining 60 years of age who are eligible under compulsory rehousing categories, and qualified elderly applicants from the Single Persons Waiting List and the Elderly Persons Priority Scheme of the Waiting List.

Rent Policy for Public Housing

Rents for domestic premises in public housing estates have been maintained at low levels despite increasing operating and maintenance costs. This has been possible because of heavy government subsidies.

Rents are reviewed on a biennial basis and adjusted to take account of increases in rates, maintenance and other costs; estate values in terms of location, facilities and services provided, as well as tenants' ability to pay. On average, public housing tenants are paying seven per cent of their income as rent. This is an extremely low figure compared with the 19 per cent in the private sector. Owing to the very low rents at old estates where maintenance and improvement costs are high, there was a substantial deficit in the Housing Authority's estate working account for domestic properties in 1985-6.

Rents for the newest estates are set at a more realistic level of $21.2 per square metre for urban estates with downward adjustments for those in the new towns to reflect difference in estate values. These rent levels represent about one-third of current market rents and are estimated to take up 13 to 15 per cent of the total family income of the prospective tenants. A committee was set up in 1985 to review the authority's domestic rent policy. Its recommendations were generally in line with the authority's existing policies which have been adopted since 1977, and no major changes were suggested. The only new proposal was