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The following is issued on behalf of the Housing Authority:
The Housing Authority has approved the passing on of the rates concession for the first two quarters of 2009/10 to its domestic tenants.
¡§The apportioned amount of concession will be transferred to the tenants on a monthly basis from April 2009 to September 2009 by offsetting an equivalent amount of the rent payable by the tenants,¡¨ a spokesman for the Authority said today (March 17).
For tenancies that do not cover the whole month, the transfer of rates concession will be made on a pro-rata basis.
¡§The transfer arrangement will also apply to Interim Housing licensees paying licence fees,¡¨ the spokesman said, adding that all sitting tenants and licensees would be individually informed of the arrangement.
The rates of public rental housing assessed by the Commissioner of Rating and Valuation are on a block/floor basis. The amount of rates is apportioned to individual flats and rounded to the nearest dollar in the rents. Tenants do not have to pay rates separately.
The Government announced the six-month rates concession, subject to a ceiling of $1,500 per quarter for each ratable tenement, following the proposal in the Budget delivered last month.
Ends/Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Issued at HKT 16:00
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