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LCQ10: Public Rental Housing Schemes for the Elderly
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     Following is a question by the Hon Ronny Tong and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Ms Eva Cheng, in the Legislative Council today (January 6):

Question:

     Regarding the situation of the elderly applying for public rental housing ("PRH") flats under the Single Elderly Persons Priority Scheme and Elderly Persons Priority Scheme, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) of the following data of the aforesaid two Schemes last year, broken down by district;

                            District
Name of                Extended  New        
the Scheme:     Urban  Urban     Territories  Islands

Number of
eligible
applications

Supply of
PRH flats

Number of
applications
for which
PRH flats
were
allocated

Average
waiting time
of applicants
who were
allocated
PRH flats

Number of
applications
which request
for in-situ
allocation of
PRH flats

Number of
applications
for which
PRH flats
in-situ were
allocated

Average
waiting time
of applicants
who were
allocated PRH
flats in-situ:
(i) less than
    two years:
(ii) two years
     to less
     than
     three
     years:
(iii) three
      years
      or
      above:

(b) whether applicants who have declined the offers of PRH flats allocated to them under the above two Schemes are required to wait afresh for allocation of PRH flats, or wait for allocation through other ways; and

(c) given that some elderly organisations have relayed to me that elderly applicants generally have a higher demand for PRH flats in-situ than PRH applicants of other age groups, what measures the authorities have in place to shorten the waiting time of elderly applicants for PRH flats in-situ?

Reply:

President,

(a) To cater for the housing needs of the elderly, the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) has introduced a number of elderly priority housing schemes, including the Single Elderly Persons Priority Scheme for elderly singletons and Elderly Persons Priority Scheme for two or more senior citizens who are willing to live together.  Elderly singletons are given priority in the allocation of public rental housing (PRH).  The present target of the average waiting time is about three years.  The HA has set a shorter average waiting time target for eligible single elderly applicants of the Single Elderly Persons Priority Scheme, anticipating that PRH flats can be allocated to them in about two years after submission of application.

     Under the aforesaid schemes, elderly applicants may opt for any one of the Waiting List (WL) Districts, including the urban district.  However, as with other PRH applicants, they cannot specify a location or PRH estate.  As such, the HA does not have information on the number of applications requesting for in-situ allocation of PRH flats and the average waiting time of the applicants concerned.  Besides, the HA has not set any allocation quota or supply level under these two schemes.  As at November 30, 2009, the average waiting time for single elderly applicants and non-single elderly applicants were 1.1 and 1.9 years respectively, which are shorter than the respective target waiting time.  We do not have a breakdown of the waiting time by district.

     Other data on the two schemes are set out below:

Single Elderly Persons Priority Scheme
--------------------------------------

                            District
                       Extended  New        
                Urban  Urban     Territories  Islands
Current number
of eligible
applications    3,562  1,099             912       16
(as at
30.11.2009)

Number of
applications
for which
PRH flats       1,443    570             933        1
were allocated
in 2008-09

Elderly Persons Priority Scheme
-------------------------------

                            District
                       Extended  New        
                Urban  Urban     Territories  Islands
Current number
of eligible
applications    1,449      437           285        2
(as at
30.11.2009)

Number of
applications
for which
PRH flats         726      203            260       1
were allocated in
2008-09

(b) As with other eligible applicants on the WL, elderly applicants under the Single Elderly Persons Priority Scheme and Elderly Persons Priority Scheme will be given a total of three offers.  An elderly applicant who rejects the first offer will be given a second offer and then a third offer.  If he rejects all three offers, he has to re-apply for PRH just like other applicants.  Those eligible will be put on the WL to await their turn for allocation of PRH.

(c) As stated above, elderly households (including elderly one-person applicants and all-elderly households) are presently allowed to choose any one of the four WL Districts in their PRH applications, but they cannot further specify a location or PRH estate.  However, if individual elderly applicants need to be allocated a PRH flat in a specified district or in a PRH estate under exceptional circumstances, their requests may be referred to us on social or medical grounds through the concerned departments (such as the Social Welfare Department) or organisations (such as the Hospital Authority).  Their requests will be met as far as possible, subject to the availability of resources.

Ends/Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Issued at HKT 12:45

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