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LCQ9: Quota and Points System for public rental housing
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     Following is a question by the Hon Frederick Fung and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, in the Legislative Council today (April 22):

Question:

     The Quota and Points System (QPS) was introduced by the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) in September 2005 to rationalise and re-prioritise the allocation of public rental housing (PRH) to non-elderly one-person applicants. HA has implemented the refined QPS for PRH (new QPS) since February 1 this year to increase the annual PRH quota for applicants under QPS, refine the points system and check the eligibility of applicants. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the number of PRH units allocated to non-elderly one-person applicants by HA in each of the past five years, and the number of PRH units reserved for such applicants in each of the next five years;

(2) of the number of non-elderly one-person applicants who passed the detailed eligibility vetting (the eligibility vetting) last year; the number of such persons who have not yet been allocated PRH units; whether the new QPS has impacted on the waiting time of these applicants, resulting in their having to wait longer for PRH allocation or eligibility vetting;

(3) of the number of non-elderly one-person applicants who have waited for PRH units for 10 years or more as at March 31 this year;

(4) whether HA has assessed, upon the implementation of the new QPS, how much longer, on average, those non-elderly one-person applicants who have waited for PRH units for 10 years or more have to wait before they are allocated PRH units; and

(5) whether HA will conduct a comprehensive review of the new QPS, including a study on the impacts of the new QPS on the waiting time of non-elderly one-person applicants who have waited for PRH units for 10 years or more, in particular if the new QPS is unfair to those applicants who have passed the eligibility vetting, and whether HA has neglected such applicants' reasonable expectations for timely PRH allocation; whether HA will exercise discretion in handling the applications from such persons, so that they can be expeditiously allocated PRH units; if HA will not, of the reasons for that?

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:

(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 five parts of the question raised by the Hon Frederick Fung is as follows:

(1) In addition to PRH flat allocation through QPS, non-elderly one-person applicants can also apply under the Express Flat Allocation Scheme (EFAS) for earlier allocation of PRH flats.  The allocation figures in the past five years are shown in the annex.

     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.

(2) Under QPS, PRH allocation is conducted continuously based on the situation of resources, points of applicants and quota. As the number of applicants who have passed the detailed eligibility vetting and are awaiting PRH flat allocation keeps changing, this figure is not particularly meaningful.

     To facilitate the implementation of the refined system, HA's SHC had decided to adopt a one-off arrangement for those QPS applicants who have passed the detailed eligibility vetting on or before the date of SHC'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.

(3) As at end-December 2014, the number of QPS applicants who have waited for PRH units for 10 years or more was 2 069, including applicants who had been offered a flat but did not accept the offers; as well as applicants who have not yet been offered any flat. For applicants who were offered flats but did not accept the offer, waiting time refers to the time taken between registration for PRH and first flat offer, excluding any frozen period during the application period (e.g. when the applicant has not yet fulfilled the residence requirement; the applicant has requested to put his/her application on hold pending arrival of family members for family reunion; the applicant is imprisoned, etc). For applicants who have not been made any offer, their waiting time is counted from the registration date to end-December 2014, excluding frozen period. We do not yet have the latest figures up to end-March 2015.

(4) 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 number of factors, including the age of the applicants, whether the applicants are living in PRH, and the waiting time of applicants. Due to different circumstances of individual applicants such as waiting time, whether they are living in PRH and their district choice of PRH allocation, plus the fact that there could 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 time of flat allocation for applicants who have waited for 10 years or more under QPS.

     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.

     Same as other PRH applicants, QPS applicants can apply under EFAS 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.

(5) As mentioned above, to facilitate the implementation of the refined system, HA's SHC had decided to adopt a one-off arrangement for those applicants who have passed the detailed eligibility vetting on or before the date of SHC'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.

     The proposal to refine QPS has been thoroughly discussed at different fora. Before HA's SHC 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. After the refinements to QPS were approved, HA immediately issued a press release on October 14, 2014 to announce the relevant details. HA also issued letters to inform individual QPS applicants of the refinements and the latest calculation of their points in early February 2015.

     HA will continue to closely monitor the implementation of QPS.

Ends/Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Issued at HKT 13:00

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