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Following is a question by the Hon Wong Yung-kan and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Ms Eva Cheng, in the Legislative Council today (January 7):
Question:
Regarding the situation of rent arrears among public rental housing (PRH) tenants, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the monthly rent arrears rate (in terms of the amount of rent arrears), the monthly number of PRH tenants with rent arrears, the annual number of notices-to-quit issued by the authorities to tenants on grounds of rent arrears as well as the annual number of PRH units recovered, in the past three years, together with a breakdown of such figures by whether tenants concerned were recipients of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance; and
(b) given the recent economic downturn of Hong Kong, whether the situation of rent arrears among PRH tenants has deteriorated; if so, of the measures in place to assist such tenants?
Reply:
President,
My reply to the two-part question is as follows:
(a) The figures regarding the rent arrears situation among public rental housing (PRH) tenants, the number of notices-to-quit issued and the number of PRH units recovered on grounds of rent arrears in the past three years (Please see the table attached).
At present, the Housing Department ("HD") does not keep separate figures on rent arrears cases involving tenants on Comprehensive Social Security Assistance ("CSSA").
As regards the 6 305 notices-to-quit issued in 2007/08, most tenants concerned managed to pay all rent arrears before their units were to be recovered and hence the notices-to-quit issued to them were cancelled or their tenancies reinstated. Under the existing mechanism, the tenants concerned may also appeal to the Appeal Panel (Housing). Subject to the provision of adequate justifications from the tenants concerned, the notices-to-quit issued may be cancelled.
(b) To ease the financial burden of PRH tenants, the Housing Authority ("HA") and the Government adopted a number of rent and rates concession measures in the past two years, including:
(i) In February 2007, the HA waived one month's rent for low-income PRH tenants;
(ii) In August 2007, the HA implemented an across-the-board rent reduction by 11.6% for PRH flats;
(iii) The Government paid three months' rents for low-income PRH households from August to October 2008;
(iv) Following the Government's move to waive three quarters of rates for 2007/08 and for the whole year of 2008/09, the HA deducted the amount of rates concession from PRH rents accordingly.
All along, the staff of management offices of PRH estates have made use of various means such as written notices, phone calls and home visits to maintain communication with PRH tenants with rent arrears. Apart from reminding the tenants to pay rents on time, the staff will also try to understand the reasons for rent arrears and provide appropriate assistance or referral service if necessary.
The HA introduced the rent assistance scheme in 1992 and have since revised and relaxed the scheme on several occasions. The scheme, which was last revised in August 2007, aims at granting relief to tenants to help them tide over temporary financial hardship. Tenants are eligible for the scheme if their household income is below 70% of the Waiting List Income Limit or their rent-to-income ratio exceeds 18.5%. They may be given either 50% or 25% rent reduction.
The HD will continue to publicise the scheme through various channels such as posters, pamphlets, publicity on television and newsletters of the Estate Management Advisory Committees, so that such scheme is made known to the tenants. This would enable those tenants facing financial hardship to seek timely assistance.
PRH tenants beset with long-term financial problems may apply for CSSA administered by the Social Welfare Department ("SWD"). The SWD would pay the rent directly to the HD for the PRH tenants on CSSA.
Ends/Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Issued at HKT 12:19
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