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Following is a question by the Hon Chan Hak-kan and an oral reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Ms Eva Cheng, JP in the Legislative Council today (14 July):
Question:
It has been reported that the Chairman of the Hong Kong Housing Society (HS) indicated earlier that HS was studying the reintroduction of Group B rental estate units (Group B units), which are commonly known as "public housing for the middle-class", so as to relieve the housing pressure on the sandwich class, but due to difficulties in finding suitable land, HS would have to use its own land resources to build such units, e.g. changing the land use of the sites concerned from redeveloping Group A rental estate units (Group A units) for low-income people to building Group B units instead, but it would have to apply to the authorities for lease modification and pay land premium first. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it knows the respective numbers of applications for Group A and B units received by HS, the average waiting time and the natural turnover rates, in the past three years;
(b) whether it knows the redevelopment plans of HS for Group A units in the next five years, the estates and existing number of units involved, and the number of units available after redevelopment; whether the Government has so far received any application from HS for changing the land use of sites from the construction of Group A units to that of Group B units; if it has, of the details; and
(c) whether it will conduct a detailed study on the impact of HS using the sites for Group A units to build Group B units on the applicants for these two types of units and the waiting time of applicants for public rental housing under the Hong Kong Housing Authority; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
Over the past year or so, in view of the rising flat prices, the property market has become one of the focuses of discussion in the society. The public and various sectors in the community have expressed a lot of different views through various channels on how to assist the public on home ownership and on other housing related issues.
Recently, there have been views arising from discussions in the community that the provision of rental housing to the middle class can enable them to save up the amount required for purchasing a flat in the private residential market in future. There are also other views that the Government should adhere to its policy all along of providing subsidised rental housing for low income families with housing needs.
My reply to the three-part question is as follows:
(a) Currently, the Hong Kong Housing Society (HKHS) provides two types of rental estate units, namely Group A estate units (Group A units) and Group B estate units (Group B units). According to HKHS's policy, Group A units are for low income families with housing needs, while Group B units target families of relatively higher income as compared to HKHS Group A estates. At present, there are a total of 31,754 Group A units and a total of 1,363 Group B units.
HKHS's Group A units are mainly allocated to applicants of the Waiting List (WL) of the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA). When there are a certain number of vacant flats, HKHS will inform the Housing Department (HD), and HD will inform eligible applicants on the WL by letters. HKHS will then follow up by sending letters to eligible applicants to invite them to apply for Group A units. In 2007 to 2009, about 750 tenants moved out from Group A estates. The reasons for moving out included the tenants passed away; the tenants purchased Home Ownership Scheme flats or Sandwich Class Housing Scheme flats and moved out from their units, or the tenants purchased flats in the private market. HKHS has re-allocated these units to eligible applicants and successful eligible households/individuals have since moved in. HA has not compiled any statistics on the average waiting time for cases allocated with Group A units.
Those who are interested in living in HKHS's Group B units have to apply directly to HKHS. According to HKHS, all Group B rental units are currently rented out. Over the past three years, there were 94 Group B units reallocated to eligible applicants by HKHS when the tenants moved out. According to the information provided by HKHS, the waiting time for applicants of Group B units was about three to five years on average.
(b) We understand that HKHS is considering redeveloping individual Group A estates in the coming five years, but the details are still being studied. According to our understanding, the preliminary redevelopment proposal does not involve conversion of Group A units into Group B units. We consider that redeveloping old estates is a good idea, as the living environment of the tenants will be improved after redevelopment. However, it requires very careful consideration if Group A units are to be converted into Group B units because HKHS's Group A units are a very important source of rental housing of lower rent. The Government's existing housing policy is to assist people who cannot afford private rental accommodation by providing them with public rental housing, and we believe this is also one of the main objectives of HKHS.
(c) The Government's existing housing policy is to assist people who cannot afford private rental accommodation by providing them with public rental housing. At present, there are about 130,000 applications on the WL, and an average of 3,000 plus new applications each month. As sites for the development of public housing are limited, it remains a challenge to maintain the average waiting time at three years.
As I mentioned above, HKHS's Group A units are mainly allocated to applicants of the WL of HA. These units are one of the important sources of rental housing of lower rent. We have to consider very carefully the suggestion of converting Group A units into Group B units in order to avoid affecting the applicants on the WL.
Ends/Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Issued at HKT 14:18
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