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The following is issued on behalf of the Housing Authority:
The Housing Authority (HA) is exploring options to provide more opportunities for public rental housing (PRH) tenants seeking transfers to improve their living space, the Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands cum Chairman of HA, Mr Michael Suen, said today (November 9) after visiting two families at Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate and Tsui Ping (South) Estate.
Accompanied by Legislative Councillor, Mr Chan Kam-lam, Mr Suen first called on a six-member family living in a 36 sq.m unit in Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate. The party later saw the living condition of another three-member family living in a 16 sq.m. unit in Tsui Ping (South) Estate.
"Although these two families shared a living density of over 5.5 sq.m. per person, which falls below the entry qualification for Territory Wide Overcrowding Relief (TWOR), there is room for improving their living space," Mr Suen said, adding that there are other families in our PRH estates facing a similar situation.
Under the existing arrangement, sitting tenants living at a density below 5.5 sq.m. internal floor area per person are eligible for transferring to a larger flat through the TWOR exercise. Since 2001, more than 6,000 families have improved their living space through ten rounds of TWOR exercise.
Mr Suen said that the Housing Department had proposed options to provide more opportunities for public rental housing (PRH) tenants seeking transfers to improve their living space.
The HA's Subsidised Housing Committee will hold a brainstorming session tomorrow (November 10) morning to discuss these options.
Apart from overcrowded families, PRH tenants are allowed to move to larger flats through transfer exercise launched by the Housing Department or internal or external transfer to another flat on medical, social or other justifiable grounds.
During the 2004/2005 financial year, about 6,800 families have benefited from these transfer exercises. The number of overcrowded households has come down to 5,800 or 0.9 per cent of the total number of PRH households at September this year from 20,000 or 3.4 per cent of the total number of PRH households in September 2000.
The total number of PRH households has grown from 580,000 in 2000 to 600,000 this year.
Ends/Wednesday, November 9, 2005
Issued at HKT 19:59
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