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The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Housing Authority:
The Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) Subsidised Housing Committee (SHC) today (June 13) approved an estimated public rental housing (PRH) allocation for 2016-17 (see Table).
It was originally estimated that 34 700 flats could be allocated in 2015-16. Actual allocation turned out to be 22 396 flats. One of the reasons for the discrepancy was the slippage of a total of 11 061 flats in four new housing estates, resulting in fewer flats actually available for allocation than the original estimation. Among them, advance allocation of 6 783 flats has been provisionally accepted by applicants. Since the applicants concerned will only enter into tenancy in 2016-17, according to the current definition, they can only be counted as actual allocation in 2016-17.
"In 2016-17, it is estimated that a total of 33 800 PRH flats, comprising 21 800 new flats and 12 000 refurbished flats, will be available for allocation. Among them, 23 870 flats (i.e. about 70 per cent) will be reserved for PRH applicants," a spokesman for the HA said.
A total of 2 200 flats are estimated to be allocated to non-elderly one-person applicants under the Quota and Points System (QPS) in 2016-17. The spokesman said, "The SHC decided in 2014 to increase the annual allocation for QPS applicants to 10 per cent of the total number of flats to be allocated to PRH applicants, subject to a cap of 2 200 flats. We will closely monitor the actual supply of flats during allocation. If the actual supply of flats turns out to be less than our estimation, we will monitor the number of flats allocated to QPS applicants to not more than 10 per cent of the total number of flats to be allocated to PRH applicants."
A total of 230 flats are estimated to cater for rehousing needs generated by various clearance programmes implemented by the Government and the Urban Renewal Authority.
"As there will not be any estate clearance projects in 2016-17, it is not necessary to reserve any flat under the category of Estate Clearance and Major Repairs," the spokesman said.
"For planning purposes, 2 000 flats will be set aside for Compassionate Rehousing in 2016-17. This number is not an upper limit. As in the past, subject to availability of resources, we will arrange flat allocation for cases recommended by the Social Welfare Department for Compassionate Rehousing, and no quota will be set."
An estimated 6 500 flats will be set aside for various transfer purposes for PRH tenants to meet their needs. Among them, 1 000 flats will be reserved for transfer of under-occupation households since large flats thus recovered can be deployed for easing the pressing demand of applicants with four or more household members. The remaining 5 500 flats will be flexibly deployed for other transfer purposes, including the Territory-wide Overcrowding Relief Transfer Exercise, the Living Space Improvement Transfer Scheme, the Harmonious Families Transfer Scheme, the conversion programme of Housing for Senior Citizens and Special Transfer for individual tenants on medical and/or social grounds.
"The quota for Junior Civil Servants and Pensioners will be increased by 100 to 1 200 in 2016-17," the spokesman said.
"We will closely monitor any changes in the circumstances and will remain flexible in allocation of the flats to ensure optimisation of resources."
Members also approved that PRH applicants registered on or before September 30, 2012, be allowed a choice to switch to the Urban district if they so wish.
"As the projected supply of PRH flats in the Urban district will increase in the coming few years while there will be a gradual decrease in the number of applicants waiting in the Urban queue, Members agreed that the HA is now in a position to allow, on a one-off basis, some registered PRH applicants to switch their district choices to the Urban district if they so wish," the spokesman said. Eligible applicants will be reminded that the actual waiting time for flats in the Urban district depends on a number of factors, including the number of applicants who switch to the Urban queue and the actual supply of new and refurbished flats in the Urban district.
At today's meeting, Members were also briefed on the final result of the 2015-16 checking exercise of applications under the QPS. Among the 28 039 QPS applications checked, half of them were cancelled due to various reasons, including exceeding PRH income or asset limits, having ownership of domestic property in Hong Kong, and failure to respond to the Housing Department's repeated requests for checking.
The next checking exercise will be launched in early July.
Ends/Monday, June 13, 2016
Issued at HKT 18:20
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