ENG-1998 — Page 253

HOUSING

management charges. The rents of public rental housing flats are, on average, about 27 per cent of the market rents for comparable flats in the private sector.

Rent Assistance

Public housing tenants facing temporary financial hardship can apply for rent reduction under the Rent Assistance Scheme operated by the HA. The scheme was introduced in September 1992 and was revised in September 1996, when the eligibility criteria for rent assistance were relaxed to benefit more low-income households. Up to December 1998, 3 814 families had benefited from the Rent Assistance Scheme.

Better-off tenants

To ensure that public housing resources are rationally allocated, the HA has since 1987 reduced the subsidy to better-off tenants by requiring them to pay higher rents pegged to their household income. Since May 1996, tenants paying double rent and with net asset values exceeding prescribed limits, and tenants who choose not to declare their assets, have been required to pay market rent.

At the end of December 1998, some 22 000 households were either paying 1.5 times standard rent, double standard rent or market rent. This policy helps to promote home ownership and the voluntary surrender of public housing flats to the HA by better-off tenants. In 1997-98, some 3 700 households surrendered their public rental flats voluntarily. Many of them purchased flats under the Home Ownership Scheme.

Allocation

In 1998, a total of 37 077 flats were allocated by the HA and the HKHS to various categories of applicants, of which 15 236 were new flats and 21 841 were refurbished flats. The majority of these flats (78 per cent) were allocated to 'committed' categories such as tenants affected by the Comprehensive Redevelopment Programme (CRP) (20 per cent), families affected by development clearance (6 per cent), and General Waiting List applicants (52 per cent). The remainder were allocated to junior civil servants, victims of fires and natural disasters, occupants of huts and other structures in dangerous locations, and compassionate cases recommended by the Social Welfare Department.

The Waiting List, being one of the largest housing categories, took up 19 248 flats in 1998. Allocation of flats is made in accordance with the order of registration and choice of districts of the applicants. Since September 1998, applicants have been required to satisfy a Comprehensive Means Test which includes both income and assets limits, a no-domestic-property rule and a residency requirement before entry to public rental housing.

Redevelopment

Since the launching of the CRP in 1988, 394 housing blocks in older estates have been redeveloped, improving the living conditions of some 130 500 households. In 1998, a total of 35 blocks in older estates were cleared and 12 200 households were rehoused. Over the next five years, another 166 older blocks will be redeveloped. Under the CRP, affected households are, as far as practicable, offered rehousing within the same district.

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