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Following is a question by the Hon Lau Kong-wah and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Ms Eva Cheng, in the Legislative Council today (July 2):
Question:
Regarding the handling of vacant units in public rental housing ("PRH") estates, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of vacant PRH units at the end of each of the past three years, broken by the reasons for such units being left vacant and, among them, the number of those allocated to Waiting List applicants within 12 months since they were vacant, as well as the number of units which have been vacant for three years or more, broken down by districts;
(b) whether it has assessed the cost incurred and the average quantity of construction waste generated in removing the furnishings of each vacated unit;
(c) of the annual expenditure incurred by the authorities on refurbishing vacated units; and
(d) whether the authorities will review the existing relevant requirements, with a view to minimising the construction waste generated in removing the furnishings of vacated units and saving the costs of refurbishing them?
Reply:
Madam President,
My reply to the four-part question is as follows:
(a) Over the past three financial years, the number of recovered flats is as follows:
2005/06 2006/07 2007/08
------- ------- -------
Number of
recovered flats 20,220 17,580 19,760
We do not have statistics of recovered flats being allocated to Waiting List applicants within 12 months. In general, after refurbishment, recovered flats will be let within two to three months.
As at May 31, 2008, a total of 310 public rental housing (PRH) flats have not been let and remained vacant for three years or more. Most of them are flats of Housing for Senior Citizens, or flats in remote areas such as Lung Tin Estate in Tai O and unpopular locations such as near a refuse chamber, or flats where special incidents such as fire had happened, etc. The distribution of these units by districts is shown below:
Location Number of units
-------- ---------------
Urban area 90
Extended urban area 80
New Territories 90
Islands District 50
Total 310
In order to expedite the letting of less popular PRH flats, the Housing Department (HD) has included the flats above under the Express Flat Allocation Scheme, so that eligible applicants on the Waiting List may gain earlier allocation of PRH flats. Applicants accepting these flats will also be offered a reduced rent at 50% for twelve months.
(b) The average cost incurred by the HD in removing the furnishings of each recovered flat is about $500, while the average quantity of construction waste generated is about 1.5m?.
(c) The annual expenditure incurred by the HD on refurbishing PRH flats is about $280 million.
(d) When PRH flats are recovered from tenants, the HD will retain as far as possible the fixtures inside the flat, including those well-maintained installations/facilities altered by the outgoing tenants at their own expenses, e.g. marble countertop, built-in kitchen cupboard, pedestal WC pan with flushing cistern, vinyl / tiled flooring, aluminium windows, metal gatesets, etc. The HD will only ask outgoing tenants to remove installations that violate the regulations or safety codes and will not ask them to remove all furnishings. The HD will only arrange for necessary repairs and basic refurbishing works for recovered flats and seek to minimise the amount of dismantled materials.
Besides, at present tenants who are allocated flats aged less than 21 years may opt for HD¡¦s Vacant Flat Refurbishment Allowance corresponding to three to five months¡¦ rent in lieu of having refurbishment works undertaken by the HD. The aim is to allow tenants to move in the vacant flats as soon as possible and arrange refurbishment according to their preferences, thereby saving unnecessary expenses on redundant refurbishment works and avoiding the waste of construction materials. In 2007, 65% of new tenants opted to receive this allowance.
Ends/Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Issued at HKT 11:16
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