ENG-1999 — Page 258

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HOUSING

Rent Assistance

Public housing tenants facing temporary financial hardship may apply for rent reduction under the Rent Assistance Scheme operated by the HA. At the end of December, about 4 900 households benefited from the scheme.

Better-off Tenants

Better-off tenants are required to pay higher rents, up to double the standard rent. In 1999, the subsidy saved through charging additional rents amounted to $207 million. Some 3 600 better-off tenants including 2 450 households which acquired their own flats under the HOS, PSPS or the Home Purchase Loan Scheme returned their public housing flats to the HA. Tenants who exceed both the income limit and the net asset limit are required to leave. Double-rent paying households who choose not to declare their household assets are also required to move out. So far, 760 households have surrendered flats to the HA under this policy.

Allocation

In 1999, 40 400 flats were allocated by the HA and the HKHS to various categories of applicant. Of these flats, 18 800 were new and 21 600 refurbished: 53 per cent were allocated to General Waiting List applicants, 23 per cent to tenants affected by the Comprehensive Redevelopment Programme, 5 per cent to families affected by development clearances, and 2 per cent to junior civil servants. The remainder was allocated to victims of fire and natural disasters, occupants of huts and other structures in dangerous locations, and compassionate cases recommended by the Social Welfare Department.

Allocation to Waiting List applicants is made in accordance with the order of registration and applicants' choice of district. Applicants are required to satisfy comprehensive means tests (including income and assets), a no-domestic-property rule and a residence requirement, before being admitted to public rental housing.

Redevelopment

Since the launching of the Comprehensive Redevelopment Programme in 1988, more than 400 housing blocks in older estates have been redeveloped, improving the living conditions of some 132 000 households. In 1999, a total of 32 blocks were cleared and 5 600 households were rehoused. Over the next four years, another 138 old blocks will be redeveloped.

Housing for Groups in Special Need

The Elderly

There are two priority schemes for public rental flats which encourage households to live with and take care of their elderly members. Households with elderly parents or dependent relatives aged 60 or above, who have applied under the Families with Elderly Persons Priority Scheme, are allocated flats three years before normal allocation in the district of their choice. Households with two elderly members, who apply under the Special Scheme for Families with Elderly Persons, are allocated two separate flats in the same block in a new town two years before normal allocation. Households with at least one elderly member also have their priority status upgraded for HOS, PSPS and Home Purchase Loan Scheme applications.