******************************************************
Following is a question by the Hon James To and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, in the Legislative Council today (July 6):
Question:
In 1997, the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) carved out the fourth to 38th floors of Hing Tung Estate Phase 3 in Shau Kei Wan, which were originally designed for public rental housing (PRH), and put them up for sale as Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) flats (i.e. the later Tung Lam Court), while the first to third floors were retained to be used as rental Housing for Senior Citizens (HSC), in which each set of kitchen and toilet facilities was to be shared by two units (Tung Lam Court HSC). Since elderly people applying for PRH prefer self-contained PRH units with independent kitchen and toilet facilities and, with the increased supply of such units, quite a number of applicants refused the offers of HSC units. As such, HA has since 2011 successively converted HSC units with high vacancy rates (including Tung Lam Court HSC) into flats with independent kitchen and toilet facilities, and changed their use to normal PRH flats for offering to eligible applicants (including non-elderly applicants) on the waiting list for PRH. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether HA had, prior to converting Tung Lam Court HSC into normal PRH flats in 2011, consulted other HOS flat owners of Tung Lam Court, apart from briefing the chairman and two members of the management committee of the Incorporated Owners of Tung Lam Court on the conversion plan; if HA had, when and how the consultation had been conducted; if not, of the reasons for that;
(2) how HA rehoused those tenants who had moved into Tung Lam Court HSC before the commencement of the conversion plan; of the respective current numbers of tenants who have moved out and those who have not;
(3) of the reason why HA, after converting the Tung Lam Court HSC units into flats with independent kitchen and toilet facilities, did not continue to use such flats as HSC;
(4) of the current number of elderly people on HA's waiting list for HSC units; the number of HSC units that will be completed in the coming two years, with a tabular breakdown by district of allocation (i.e. urban areas, extended urban areas, the New Territories and Islands);
(5) whether the authorities have assessed if the conversion of Tung Lam Court HSC into normal PRH flats by HA has lengthened the waiting time for HSC; if they have assessed and the outcome is in the affirmative, of the additional waiting time;
(6) of the increase in the population of Tung Lam Court as a result of the conversion of Tung Lam Court HSC by HA into normal PRH flats for rent; whether the authorities have assessed if the common facilities in Tung Lam Court are insufficient to meet the demand as a result; if they have assessed, of the details; if they have not assessed, the reasons for that; and
(7) of the number of HSC units converted by HA into normal PRH flats in the past five years, with a tabular breakdown by the districts mentioned in (4)?
Reply:
President,
The Housing for Senior Citizens (HSC) was originally introduced by the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) for singleton elderly applicants as a hostel-type public rental housing (PRH) with 24-hour welfare worker service. There are three types of design for HSC. The HS3 Design has independent toilet but shared kitchen facilities; while the other two design types are not equipped with independent toilets nor kitchen facilities (Note 1). In the late 1990s, the vacancy rate of HSC was on the high side since PRH applicants preferred units with independent toilet and kitchen facilities. HA decided to cease the construction of HSC in 2000 and launched a "Phasing-out Programme" in 2006 to convert 17 HS1 Design HSC blocks and one HS2 Design HSC block with high vacancy rates into other uses.
My reply to the questions raised by the Hon James To is as follows:
(1) According to record, the Housing Department (HD) briefed the Chairman and two members of the Management Committee of the Incorporated Owners of Tung Lam Court on the "Phasing-out Programme" on April 16, 2011. However, the Incorporated Owners of Tung Lam Court did not convene further meetings on the issue. The Government also briefed the Legislative Council Panel on Housing on HA's "Phasing-out Programme". Please refer to LC Paper Numbers CB(1)506/06-07(01), CB(1)836/06-07(03) and CB(1)1242/14-15(01) for details.
(2) HA implemented the "Enhanced Phasing-out Programme" (EPP) in March 2011 to extend the "Phasing-out Programme" to cover all of the remaining 35 HS1 Design HSC blocks located in PRH estates or Home Ownership Scheme courts, including the one at Tung Lam Court. Tenants concerned were encouraged to move to ordinary PRH units, HS2 Design or HS3 Design HSC units.
For the 107 tenants residing in HSC units of Tung Lam Court before the implementation of the "Phasing-out Programme", the latest position of their relocation is as follows:
(i) 31 elderly tenants have moved to ordinary PRH units in various PRH estates, most of which are located in Eastern District.
(ii) one elderly tenant has moved out upon purchasing a HOS flat at the HOS secondary market.
(iii) 56 elderly tenants have moved out from the HSC units upon admission into Residential Care Homes for the Elderly or passing away.
Moreover, two non-elderly tenants have moved to other PRH estates in Eastern District through the "Management Transfer" arrangement.
17 elderly tenants are still residing in the HSC units of Tung Lam Court. Pursuant to the decision of the Subsidised Housing Committee of HA in February 2013, HD will continue to carry out the EPP with a voluntary transfer approach for the remaining elderly tenants. Elderly tenants who have yet to move out from the HSC units of Tung Lam Court can continue to stay.
(3) As mentioned above, due to PRH applicants' preference for PRH units with independent toilet and kitchen facilities, the vacancy rate of HSC has been on the high side for many years. Upon the conversion of the HS1 Design HSC units into ordinary PRH units with independent toilet and kitchen facilities, they will be allocated to all PRH applicants, including elderly applicants.
(4) and (5) As mentioned above, HA decided to cease the construction of HSC in 2000. Currently, elderly applicants may apply for PRH through the "Single Elderly Persons Priority Scheme" or the "Elderly Persons Priority Scheme". Allocation of PRH units is by random computer batching in accordance with the date of registration, the choice of district and PRH resources available at the time when applications are due for allocation, including the remaining HSC units. Generally speaking, applicants cannot request for specific types of units, including the existing HSC units.
According to the prevailing policy of HA, general applicants (including applicants of various family categories and singleton elderly) will be accorded priority over non-elderly one-person applicants, and the target is to provide the first flat offer to general applicants at around three years on average. To meet the housing demand of the elderly, HA further sets the target of providing the first flat offer to elderly one-person applicants at around two years on average. As at end of March 2016, the average waiting time for elderly one-person applicants was 2.3 years.
(6) HA plans to convert all 105 HS1 Design HSC units of Tung Lam Court into 39 standard PRH units. There were 107 tenants living in the original 105 HSC units. Upon the conversion of all these HSC units into standard PRH units, the population is anticipated to increase by around 50 only. It will have limited impact on the use of public facilities by the Tung Lam Court residents.
(7) Since the implementation of the "Phasing-out Programme" of HSC in August 2006, HD had recovered 3 572 HS1 Design HSC units and converted them into 1 323 ordinary PRH units up to December 2015. HD does not maintain a breakdown of converted units by districts.
Note 1: HSC has three design types. Originated in the 1980s, the HS1 Design is the earliest design. It divides an ordinary domestic unit into two to four smaller units with shared toilet and kitchen facilities. The second and third design types, i.e. HS2 Design and HS3 Design, were both introduced in mid 1990s. HS2 Design has common kitchen and toilet facilities, while HS3 Design has common kitchen facilities and an independent toilet inside each unit.
Ends/Wednesday, July 6, 2016
Issued at HKT 14:46
NNNN
