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Following is a question by the Hon Frederick Fung and a written reply by the Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands, Mr Michael Suen, in the Legislative Council today (June 20):
Question:
Regarding the nuisance caused to neighbours by tenants of public rental housing ("PRH") estates, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the procedure adopted by the Housing Department for handling complaints about the nuisance caused to neighbours by PRH tenants, including whether complaints of different natures are handled in different ways, and whether the complainants are informed in writing of the outcome of the complaints;
(b) of the number of complaints in this regard received by the Housing Department in the past three years, and among them, the number of cases in which the persons under complaint were suspected to be psychiatric patients and required to be referred to the Social Welfare Department for follow-up actions, and whether the Housing Department will consider recruiting social workers to handle such cases;
(c) of a breakdown, by PRH estates, of the number of noise nuisance complaints received by the Housing Department since the inclusion, on January 1 this year, of "causing noise nuisance" as a misdeed in respect of which points may be allotted under the Marking Scheme for Estate Management Enforcement in Public Housing Estates ("Marking Scheme"), and the respective numbers of cases in which the persons under complaint were given warning letters and allotted points respectively since the inclusion; and
(d) whether it will consider including "causing nuisance to neighbours" as a misdeed in respect of which points may be alloted under the Marking Scheme; if not, of the reasons for that?
Reply:
Madam President,
My reply to the four-part question is as follows :
(a) The tenancy agreements between the Housing Department (HD) and public rental housing (PRH) tenants provide that the tenants should not "cause any nuisance or create any disturbance". Upon receipt of a complaint from PRH residents about nuisances caused by neighbours, the HD will normally send two members of the estate management staff to make an on-site investigation. Upon arrival, the staff members will seek information from the parties concerned and, if necessary, take pictures or videotapes for the purpose of evidence collection. If the complaint is substantiated, the HD will, in accordance with the terms of the tenancy agreement, give verbal advice or issue a warning letter to the tenant who has caused the nuisance. If the situation so warrants, the HD will refer the case to other government departments (such as the Police) for necessary action. For serious cases of nuisance, the HD may consider terminating the relevant tenancies.
If the nuisance caused by a tenant is confirmed to be a misdeed under the Marking Scheme for Estate Management Enforcement in Public Housing Estates (the Marking Scheme), the HD will issue a warning letter or notice advising the tenant of the penalty points allotted, in accordance with the procedures under the Marking Scheme. Penalty points allotted will be effective for two years. If a tenant is allotted 16 points or above within two years, his tenancy may be terminated.
In general, complaints of different natures are handled in accordance with the above-mentioned procedures. Complainants will be advised of the progress and outcome of actions taken in respect of the complaint cases. If the complaint is made in writing, the complainant will be given a written reply.
(b) During the past three years, the HD received an average of over 6 000 complaints about nuisances caused by neighbours every year. During this period, more than 50 cases were referred to the Social Welfare Department (SWD) for follow-up actions as the nuisances were caused by suspected psychiatric patients. The HD would handle such cases carefully and would take the initiative to liaise closely with the SWD and the medical social workers of the hospitals concerned. As the existing mechanism is operating effectively, the HD has no plan at present to recruit its own social workers to handle such cases.
(c) With effect from January 1, 2007, the HD included "causing noise nuisance" in the Marking Scheme with a view to regulating noise nuisances during the period between 11pm and 7am.
Between January 1 and June 7, 2007, the HD received a total of around 2 400 complaints about noise nuisance. The majority of these cases were minor in nature and were satisfactorily resolved as a result of HD officers' on-site investigations and verbal advice to the tenants concerned. There were 12 noise nuisance cases of a more serious nature, in which warning letters were issued or points allotted. In these cases, two or more households have confirmed that they had been affected by the nuisances. A breakdown of these cases by estates is as follows:
Action Estate No. of Total
cases
Written Sun Chui Estate 2
warning Upper Ngau Tau Kok Estate 2
Tin Yan Estate 1
Yau Tong Estate 1
Tin Wan Estate 1
Lower Wong Tai Sin (2) Estate 1
Sheung Tak Estate 1
Cheung Ching Estate 1
Lei Yue Mun Estate 1 11
Points Yau Tong Estate 1 1
allotted(Note)
Total: 12
Note: Under the Marking Scheme, tenants who cause noise nuisance will be allotted five points.
(d) Since the implementation of the Marking Scheme, a number of major nuisances or behaviours which affect other tenants have been included, e.g. "causing noise nuisance", "putting dripping flower pots or dripping laundry at balconies", "dripping oil from exhaust fan", "littering", "causing mosquito breeding by accumulating stagnant water", "spitting in public areas", "urinating and defecating in public places", "accumulating a large quantity of refuse or waste inside leased premises, creating offensive smell and hygienic nuisance", etc. The HD will continue to regularly review the Marking Scheme and consider including other misdeeds in the Marking Scheme or raise the penalty levels if necessary.
Ends/Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Issued at HKT 13:11
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