ENG-2009 — Page 270

210 Housing

The HKHA's Comprehensive Structural Investigation Programme was set up to monitor estates approaching or exceeding 40 years old to make sure they are structurally sound and economically sustainable. Of the 11 estates inspected so far, two had to be cleared and nine needed repairs to prolong their lives for 15 years or more. Similar inspections and remedial work will be carried out on 31 other old estates over the next nine years.

The HKHA has an ongoing 'Estate Improvement Programme' for providing quality service and a good living environment for its tenants.

Allocation

In 2009, about 35 700 public rental housing flats were let by the HKHA and the HKHS to different categories of applicants about 16 900 were new flats and about 18 800 refurbished flats. Of these, about 61 per cent were let to applicants on the public rental housing waiting list, 9 per cent to tenants affected by the HKHA's Comprehensive Redevelopment Programme, less than 1 per cent to families. affected by estate clearances, about 2 per cent to junior civil servants, 20 per cent to sitting tenants for transfers (including overcrowding relief), and the remainder to those affected by squatter clearances and removal of rooftop structures and victims of fire and natural disasters, and compassionate cases recommended by the Social Welfare Department and other applicants.

Save for non-elderly one-person applicants, flats are allocated to Waiting List applicants according to their registration number and their choice of districts. For non-elderly one-person applicants, allocation is based on a 'quota and points. system' in which priorities depend on the points applicants have as compared with other applicants. The points of an applicant are determined by his or her age, waiting time and whether the applicant is already living in public rental housing. All applicants need to meet Hong Kong's residence requirement as well as undergo a 'Comprehensive Means Test' and a 'Domestic Property Test'.

To speed up the letting of some of the less popular flats, the HKHA has introduced an 'Express Flat Allocation Scheme' under which these flats are pooled for selection by eligible applicants on the waiting list. During the year, about 2 000 households were allocated public rental housing flats under the scheme.

The HKHA also offers accommodation to people whose squatter huts or illegal rooftop structures are cleared by the Government, provided they meet certain conditions. About 230 people, made homeless by squatter and rooftop clearances, were rehoused in 2009.

Home Ownership

Sale of Subsidised Flats

More than 459 100 subsidised sale flats have been sold in past years to eligible households at discounted prices under different Government subsidised programmes such as the Home Ownership Scheme (HOS), the Private Sector Participation Scheme (PSPS) and the Tenants Purchase Scheme (TPS) run by the HKHA. But these schemes were scrapped in recent years in line with the Government's subsidised housing

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