ENG-2006 — Page 256

Rent Policy

It is the long-established policy of the HKHA to set public rental housing rents at affordable levels. At present, rents are inclusive of rates, management and maintenance costs, and range between $250 and $3 810 per month.

Following a comprehensive review and extensive public consultation, the HKHA endorsed in November 2006 a new mechanism for determining how the rents of public rental housing are to be adjusted. In essence, an income-based rent adjustment mechanism which provides for both upward and downward adjustments in domestic rents according to changes in tenants' household income will be adopted. Suitable amendments to the Housing Ordinance will be introduced into the Legislative Council to effect the new mechanism.

Rent Assistance

The Rent Assistance Scheme was introduced by the HKHA in 1992 to provide assistance to its public housing tenants facing temporary financial hardship. Eligible tenants are offered a 50 per cent rent cut. To assist more needy families, the HKHA revised the scheme in October 2002 and the eligibility criteria for elderly tenants were relaxed. Tenants affected by redevelopment are also eligible for rent assistance immediately upon being rehoused.

In March 2006, the HKHA further relaxed the eligibility criteria for non-elderly public housing tenants so that they may have benefits similar to those enjoyed by their elderly counterparts. These eligible households are entitled to 25 per cent rent reduction. At the same time, the rent-to-income ratio threshold was lowered and the three-year residence criterion for households in older blocks was also lifted. As at the end of 2006, some 38 000 households had benefited from the scheme.

Better-off Tenants

Better-off tenants are required to pay higher rents. At the end of December 2006, there were 20 100 households paying higher rents. The subsidy saved under this scheme amounted to about $200 million in 2006. In addition, tenants who have lived in estates for more than 10 years and whose household income and assets exceed the prescribed limits, or those who choose not to declare their household assets, are required to move out. In 2006, 525 better-off tenants, including 225 families who acquired their own flats under the various subsidised home ownership assistance schemes, returned their public rental housing flats to the HKHA.

Redevelopment

In 2006, some 4 800 families living in housing blocks due for redevelopment at Wong Chuk Hang, Shek Kip Mei and Lower Ngau Tau Kok (II) estates were rehoused. Since the launching of the HKHA's Comprehensive Redevelopment Programme in 1988, 550 housing blocks have been redeveloped and the living conditions of some 183 730 households have been improved.

Estate Clearance

In March 2006, the HKHA announced the clearance of So Uk Estate in two phases. The rehousing of Phase 1 tenants will be completed in November 2008 and