*********************************************************
Following is a question by the Hon Wong Kwok-hing and a written reply by the Acting Secretary for Transport and Housing, Mr Yau Shing-mu, in the Legislative Council today (April 15, 2015):
Question:
The Housing Authority (HA) has implemented the refined Quota and Points System (new QPS) for public rental housing (PRH) since February 1 this year. Some non-elderly one-person applicants aged below 45 have relayed to me that they have been waiting for PRH units for many years and could have been allocated a PRH unit within one to two years, but their waiting time has been prolonged as a result of non-elderly one-person applicants aged 45 or above being awarded a one-off bonus of 60 points under the new QPS, and this is unfair to them. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of non-elderly one-person applicants who could have been allocated a PRH unit within 12, 18 and 24 months from February 1 this year before the implementation of the new QPS and, among them, the respective numbers of applicants whose waiting time has been prolonged due to the implementation of the new QPS, their age distribution, as well as the biggest and smallest increase in their waiting time;
(2) whether HA has explained to the affected applicants how the new QPS impacts on their waiting time, and whether HA has established a redress channel in this regard, so that it can consider exercising discretion to give priority allocation of PRH units to applicants with pressing housing needs; and
(3) whether HA will increase this year's PRH allocation quota for non-elderly one-person applicants to bring the waiting time of applicants who could have been allocated a PRH unit within 24 months to the same level as that of applicants aged 45 or above after the implementation of the new QPS, so as to reduce the conflicts among applicants and minimize the adverse impact of the new QPS; if HA will not, how HA ensures that the new QPS is fair and reasonable?
Reply:
President,
It is the policy of the Government and the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) to accord priority to general applicants (i.e. family and elderly one-person applicants) over non-elderly one-person applicants in the allocation of public rental housing (PRH) flats. Towards this end, HA introduced the Quota and Points System (QPS) for non-elderly one-person applicants in September 2005. Unlike general applicants, under QPS¡V
(a) the allocation of flats is subject to an annual quota;
(b) the priority of applicants is determined by a points system; and
(c) the target of providing the first flat offer at around three years on average is not applicable to QPS applicants.
In 2012, the Government established the Long Term Housing Strategy (LTHS) Steering Committee. On QPS, the LTHS Steering Committee was concerned that older applicants might have relatively limited upward mobility and therefore should be given higher priority. During the public consultation on the LTHS, a considerable number of respondents agreed that more points should be given to non-elderly one-person applicants who are above the age of 45. In its report submitted to the Government, the LTHS Steering Committee called on HA to carefully review PRH-related policies, including QPS, to ensure the proper use of valuable PRH resources.
At the same time, in his Report No. 61 on the allocation and utilisation of PRH flats, the Director of Audit observed that there was a built-in incentive for applicants to apply for PRH early under QPS (i.e. to apply at the minimum eligible age of 18 in order to accumulate more waiting time points), and recommended HA to conduct a comprehensive review of QPS. Subsequently, the Legislative Council (LegCo) Public Accounts Committee (PAC) also considered that HA should review the points system of QPS with a view to introducing improvement measures. The Subcommittee on LTHS under the LegCo Panel on Housing also mentioned Members' different views on this subject in its report published in July 2014.
Taking into account views from all parties, HA's Subsidised Housing Committee (SHC) decided to refine QPS on October 14, 2014. Refinements include awarding a one-off bonus of 60 points to applicants when they have reached the age of 45 to accord them with a higher priority over other younger applicants; and increasing the scale of age points from three to nine points per year of age increase at the time of application to reduce the incentive for early registration. The refined points system was implemented with effect from February 1, 2015.
My reply to the three parts of the question raised by the Hon Wong Kwok-hing is as follows¡V
(1) Under QPS, the relative priority of PRH flat allocation to applicants is determined by the points of applicants obtained under the points system. The points of applicants are determined by a series of factors, including the age of the applicants, whether the applicants are living in PRH, and the waiting time. Due to different circumstances of individual applicants such as waiting time, whether they are living in PRH and their district choice of PRH allocation, and the fact that there would be new applicants from time to time whose circumstances are also different, we cannot predict the time of flat allocation for individual applicants. Besides, the progress of PRH allocation is also affected by factors such as the number of flats reserved for allocation, the supply of newly built and refurbished PRH flats in different districts, and whether applicants accept flat offers. Therefore, we are unable to estimate the number and the age distribution of applicants who could have been allocated a PRH flat within 12, 18 and 24 months from February 1, 2015 under the old system and the actual impact of implementing the new points system on them.
Under the refined QPS, generally speaking older applicants will be allocated flats earlier. However, the actual priority of individual applicants is determined by their points under the refined system, and is ultimately subject to the supply of PRH and circumstances of other applicants.
(2) As pointed out above, the proposal to refine QPS has been thoroughly discussed at different fora. Before HA decided to refine QPS, it has carefully considered the recommendations of the LTHS Steering Committee, views collected during the public consultation on LTHS, views of the Director of Audit as well as that of LegCo's PAC. HA has immediately issued a press release on October 14, 2014 to announce the relevant details after it decided to refine QPS. HA has also issued letters to inform individual QPS applicants of the refinement and the latest calculation of their points in early February 2015.
Same as other PRH applicants, QPS applicants can apply under the Express Flat Allocation Scheme for earlier allocation of PRH flats. Applicants with pressing housing needs due to social or health reasons can apply for Compassionate Rehousing upon recommendation of the Social Welfare Department.
(3) When HA's SHC decided to refine the points system of QPS on October 14, 2014, it also decided to increase the annual allocation quota under QPS from 8% to 10% of the total number of flats to be allocated to general and QPS applicants, subject to a cap which was also increased from 2 000 to 2 200 units, starting from HA's PRH Allocation Plan for 2015/16.
To facilitate the implementation of the refined system, HA's SHC also decided to adopt the following one-off arrangements ¡V
(a) the points of those applicants who have submitted applications or have been registered before the implementation date (i.e. February 1, 2015) would be re-calculated under the refined system. If the re-calculated total points for these applicants are higher than the total points already awarded to them under the old system, HA would award the difference in points to them on the implementation date;
(b) for those applicants who have passed the detailed eligibility vetting on or before the date of HA's decision to refine QPS (i.e. October 14, 2014) and are undergoing the allocation process, their priority for PRH allocation would be based on their points awarded under either the refined system or the old system, whichever enables earlier allocation; and
(c) as Long Bin Interim Housing will be cleared in January 2016, non-elderly one-person households living in the Long Bin Interim Housing can retain their priority for rehousing to PRH under the old system.
HA will continue to closely monitor the implementation of QPS.
Ends/Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Issued at HKT 13:31
NNNN
