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Following is a question by the Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung and a written reply by the Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands, Mr Michael Suen, in the Legislative Council today (May 2):
Question:
In presenting the Budget for the current financial year in February this year the Financial Secretary stated that rates for the first two quarters of the current financial year would be waived. It has been reported that the Hong Kong Housing Authority ("HA") will not refund the rates for the first quarter of the current financial year to public rental housing ("PRH") tenants until July this year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
(a) it has assessed if the delay in refunding the above rates is unfair to PRH tenants; if an assessment has been made, of the results; and
(b) it will request HA to immediately refund the rates for the first quarter of the current financial year to PRH tenants; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
Madam President,
Public rental housing (PRH) tenants are only required to pay rents to the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA). They do not have to pay rates, Government rents or management fees separately. In this year's Budget, the Financial Secretary announced that rates concession would be provided for the first two quarters of 2007/08. The HA, though not legally obliged to pass the rates concession on to the tenants, has, following the past practice, decided to deduct the savings in rates from the rents payable by the tenants on a pro-rata basis, so that PRH tenants can benefit from this measure. The concession will be deducted from the rents payable by the tenants for July and October 2007.
The Rating and Valuation Department conducts revaluation of rateable values of all properties in Hong Kong on an annual basis. Given that the rateable values of PRH flats are assessed in blocks, the HA has to calculate the rent deduction for each tenant on the basis of the amount of rates concession for each block and the area of each flat. The HA received in mid-April the results of the revaluation of rateable values for 2007/08. To effect the rent deduction, it takes time to make adjustment to the computer system of the Housing Department in order to accurately calculate the amount of deduction to which each of the 600 000 plus PRH tenants is entitled.
In addition, for the PRH tenants moving in or out during the first two quarters of 2007/08, the amount of rent reduction for them has to be calculated separately on a pro-rata basis since their tenancies do not cover the whole period of rates concession. The HA needs to calculate at the end of the relevant quarters the amount of deduction for each tenant, and deduct the amount from the rents for the months of July and October accordingly.
To enable tenants to benefit from the rates concession as soon as possible, and having regard to the above factors, we consider it a reasonable administrative arrangement to deduct the amount of rates concession from the rents for the months of July and October. This arrangement can also ensure that the rent reduction for each tenant is calculated accurately and fairly.
Ends/Wednesday, May 2, 2007
Issued at HKT 11:53
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