ENG-1993 — Page 228

HOUSING

Private sector applicants are not allowed to own domestic property and are subject to a household income limit of $20,000 per month. These restrictions, however, do not apply to public housing tenants, residents of temporary housing areas and cottage areas managed by the authority, households displaced by clearance of squatter areas for development, natural disaster victims and junior civil servants.

As an encouragement, public housing tenants are accorded higher priority than private sector applicants in selecting HOS flats. This incentive has been extended to prospective tenants, so that more rental flats will be available for applicants in greater need.

During the year, the allocation quota of flats for the private sector and public housing rental applicants was changed. Previously, private sector applicants were allocated one third of the flats in each development phase, but this figure was increased to 50 per cent.

Favourable mortgage terms are provided by 48 financial institutions for the purchase of HOS and PSPS flats, in return for the authority's indemnity against loss in cases of default. This enables purchasers to borrow between 90 and 95 per cent of the flat price, with repayment periods of up to 20

to 20 years.

During the year, the HOS and PSPS schemes were over-subscribed by 12 times. Some 13 300 flats were sold under the HOS scheme, and 5 600 flats under the PSPS scheme. A total of 1 200 flats were sold to eligible public housing rental applicants under the trial scheme allowing the option to rent or buy.

The prices of flats sold ranged from $441,900 for a flat with a saleable floor area of 37.3 square metres at Yan Shing Court, Fanling, to $1,587,200 for a flat of 59.9 square metres at Fu Keung Court, Wang Tau Hom. Prices were, on average, 43 per cent below market values.

The annual production of ownership flats will range from around 10 000 to 25 000 flats between 1994 and 1998. Of these, about 45 per cent will be upgraded flats in blocks originally intended for rental housing estates, thus providing a wider choice of flat sizes, standards, locations and prices.

Home Purchase Loan Scheme

Under the Home Purchase Loan Scheme, lower and middle-income families are given assistance to buy flats in the private sector. In 1993, 570 families benefited.

Eligible applicants are offered an interest-free loan of $200,000, repayable over the same period as the bank mortgage on the property, up to a maximum of 20

years.

A new option allows eligible applicants to opt for a monthly subsidy of $2,600 for 36 months, which is not repayable.

Since the start of the loan scheme in 1988, 8 090 loans and 250 subsidies have been granted. As a result, 4 550 public housing units have been recovered for allocation to other families.

Building Projects

Some 110 000 flats were at various stages of construction during the year, with most of the work being carried out on redevelopment of old housing estates in the urban areas.

Several phases of work had begun on rebuilding Sau Mau Ping Estate and Tsz Wan Shan Estate in Central Kowloon, while work on estates in Lam Tin and Ko Chiu Road in East Kowloon was well underway. The final phase of the redevelopment of Tsui Ping Estate in Kwun Tong had also started.

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