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Following is a question by the Hon James Tien and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Ms Eva Cheng, in the Legislative Council today (December 19):
Question:
At present, tenants of public rental housing ("PRH") flats who have purchased a flat under the Home Ownership Scheme are required to surrender the PRH flats they originally occupy within 60 days from taking possession of the purchased flats. They may apply for deferral of surrendering their PRH flats for a maximum of 30 days, in respect of which they are required to pay an occupation fee equivalent to triple the net rent plus rates. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the justifications for setting the time frame for the surrender of PRH flats at 60 days;
(b) of the justifications for setting the above occupation fee at an amount equivalent to triple the net rent plus rates; and
(c) whether it will review the existing requirements, including the consideration of relaxing the above 60-day time frame?
Reply:
Madam President,
My reply to the three-part question is as follows:
(a) Public housing resources are precious. There is a strong need to ensure their effective utilisation to meet the needs of the existing public rental housing (PRH) tenants and more than 110,000 PRH waiting list applicants. As a matter of principle, the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) will not provide double housing benefits to tenants. Tenants who have purchased flats under any subsidised home ownership schemes (including the various home purchase schemes or loan schemes provided by the HA and the Hong Kong Housing Society) are required to vacate and surrender their PRH flats to the Housing Department (HD) for re-allocation to other PRH applicants. If a tenant, for whatever reason, asks for keeping the PRH flat for a limited period of time after purchasing a flat, he or she should, in principle, be required to pay a higher fee for occupation of the flat.
In March, 2000, taking into consideration the time generally required for moving into a new flat, the HA decided that the tenants should be allowed to continue to occupy their PRH flats at the original rents up to 60 days after taking possession of the flats purchased, but they should be required to tender notices-to-quit to terminate their tenancies before the expiry of the specified period. Tenants with special needs who cannot surrender their flats within 60 days may apply for an extension of up to 30 days, during which they are required to pay an occupation fee equivalent to three times the normal rent plus rates. For tenants who pay market rents before the termination of their tenancies, the occupation fee will be equivalent to the market rent or three times the normal rent plus rates, whichever is the higher. After the 30-day extension, the HD may exercise discretion to consider requests for further extension of the deadline for surrender on strong compassionate grounds, but the said occupation fee would still be applicable during the extended period.
(b) Having considered the ratio of public housing rents to market rents and the need to avoid providing double housing benefits to tenants for an extended period of time, the HA has formulated the current formula for calculating the occupation fees for deferred surrender of PRH flats.
(c) In 2000, the HA reviewed the time restriction for surrender of public housing flats by PRH tenants after purchase of subsidised flats. Having considered the time generally needed for moving into a new flat, it decided to extend the time limit from the original 30 days to 60 days and allow the tenants to apply for a further extension where necessary (subject to the payment of the occupation fee). The current measures adopted by the HA have struck a reasonable balance between the rationale use of public housing resources and the practical need of the tenants moving into new flats. The HA has no plan at present to further extend the 60-day time limit.
Ends/Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Issued at HKT 12:09
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