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The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Housing Authority:
The Hong Kong Housing Authority's (HA) Subsidised Housing Committee (SHC) today (July 23) approved the public rental housing (PRH) allocation plan for 2014/15 (see table) and the management fee for Tin Lee Court at Tai O.
Under the PRH allocation plan for 2014/15, a total of 24 800 PRH flats will be provided for eligible families, out of which 17000 flats will go to applicants on the waiting list (WL). These 24 800 flats comprise 9 800 new flats and 15 000 refurbished flats.
"As in the past, the WL category will continue to be given the biggest share of the allocation, constituting 68.6 per cent of the year's provision. The remaining flats will be allocated to applicants under various categories," a spokesman for the HA said.
In accordance with the principle previously set by the SHC, a quota of 1 360 flats will be given to non-elderly one-person applicants under the Quota and Points System for 2014/15.
A total of 250 flats will be reserved to cater for rehousing needs generated by various clearance programmes implemented by the Government and the Urban Renewal Authority.
"For planning purposes, 2 000 flats will be set aside for Compassionate Rehousing in 2014/15. Any additional housing demand arising from the recommendation made by the Social Welfare Department will be handled where necessary,¡¨ the spokesman said.
A total of 4 550 flats are reserved for various transfer schemes for existing PRH tenants to meet their housing needs. Among them, 1 100 flats are set aside for overcrowding relief and living space improvement needs.
"Despite the relatively stringent supply of flats, 1 000 flats are still set aside for transfer of under-occupation households since the large flats thus recovered can be deployed for easing the keen demand from applicants with four or more household members, ¡¨the spokesman said.
The remaining 2 450 flats will be used for other transfer purposes including transfers under the Harmonious Families Transfer Scheme, the Housing for Senior Citizens Conversion Programme and Internal Transfer/Special Transfer of individual tenants due to health and/or family reasons.
"As in the past, the Housing Department will flexibly deploy the 4 550 flats under the transfer sub-categories to ensure optimisation of resources," the spokesman said.
"2014/15 is a difficult year for allocation with the reduction in the number of flats available for allocation on the one hand, and competing demands from different rehousing categories on the other. The relatively low production of new flats is primarily because some projects experienced difficulties at earlier stages, including difficulties in securing planning approvals and in garnering district support during district consultations, as well as slippage in construction in recent months," the spokesman said.
"However, the situation should improve in 2015/16 since new flats scheduled for completion in the last quarter of 2014/15 will be included in next year's allocation plan, making an estimated total of over 22 000 new flats available for allocation in 2015/16, in addition to refurbished flats," the spokesman added.
The SHC also approved management fees for Tin Lee Court (TLC) in Tai O, under which the monthly management fee for each residential unit ranges from $2,043 to $2,073.
In accordance with the Deed of Mutual Covenant (DMC), the HA, as the DMC Manager, has the responsibility to arrange for the relevant management services. Moreover, according to the relevant part of the Residential Properties (First-hand Sales) Ordinance that applies to developments constructed by the HA, the HA, as the vendor of TLC which is a completed development, has to provide prospective buyers of the flats with the Vendor's Information Form (VIF). The VIF must provide information on the monthly management fee of the flats.
The HA has sought to arrange for a service provider through the HA's established fair and open tendering procedure. Tendering invitations were sent to all qualified providers including but not exclusively those running similar services in the vicinity of TLC.
"The first tendering exercise was conducted in February 2014 but no tender submission was received. The HA started the second exercise in May and conducted tender negotiations to reduce the tender price in July. When arriving at the decision of approving the management fees, the SHC noted that the final proposal is the best offer from the market," the spokesman said.
"While noting that the management fee level is relatively high, we understand that the main reasons are the small number of flats involved and remote location of TLC.¡@We will include information on the management fee of individual flats in the VIF, as required by the Residential Properties (First-hand Sales) Ordinance so that prospective buyers will be well aware of the situation before deciding to select flats from TLC," the spokesman said.
In future, half or more of the owners may resolve in a general meeting of the Owners' Corporation or Owners' Committee to terminate the HA's role as the manager under the DMC by giving the HA not less than three months' notice. In that case, the HA will in turn terminate the property management contract in accordance with the provisions in the contract, and owners will then be free to make their own arrangements for the various management services.
"We appreciate that the TLC flats, given their age, remote location and high management fee, may not suit the needs of all prospective buyers. As we have announced previously, the HA is building about 2 200 new HOS flats scheduled for completion in 2016/17 in Sha Tin, Tsing Yi, Tsuen Wan and Yuen Long. These flats will be put up for sale within 2014 and offer more choices for prospective buyers. If the prospective buyers consider buying any of these flats, they have to comply with all the rules and conditions applicable under the separate sales exercise," the spokesman added.
Ends/Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Issued at HKT 18:31
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