one-person applicants
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The following is issued on behalf of the Housing Authority:
The Housing Authority (HA)'s Subsidized Housing Committee (SHC) endorsed today (September 29) the setting of an annual quota for non-elderly one-person applicants applying for public rental housing (PRH) and establish a points system to accord priority to applicants of higher age.
"The quota and points system (QPS) is devised to address the overriding need to introduce effective measures to cope with the momentous rise in the number of young individuals applying for PRH on their own," a spokesman for the HA said.
There has been a substantial rise in the number of one-person applicants on the WL in recent years. Among the 32,300 newly-registered applicants in 2004/05, some 14,400 or 45 per cent were one-person applicants, as compared to 21 per cent in 1998/99.
The average age of one-person applicants also dropped from 55 in 1998/99 to 42 in 2004/05. The share of the newly registered applicants aged below 35 also jumped from 12% in 1998/99 to 42% in 2004/05.
"The soaring demand from non-elderly one-person applicants aged below 60, if unchecked, will undermine the ability of the Authority to assist families with more pressing need," the spokesman said.
"The actual number of non-elderly one-person applicants re-housed to PRH leap-frogged from 125 in 1996/97 to 3,700 in 2004/05.
"Some 3,000 additional PRH units which cost about $0.51 billion would have to be provided annually to meet the demand from non-elderly one-person applicants, assuming that the current level of demand will stay as it is and would not continue to rise," he said.
Under the QPS, points will be assigned to the applicants based on their age at the time of submitting the PRH applications and whether they are PRH tenants.
The spokesman explained that zero point would be given to applicants aged 18, the minimum age for submitting applications.
"Three points will be given to those aged 19; six points to those aged 20 and so forth. For applicants living in PRH, including rental housing operated by the Housing Society, 30 points will be deducted (details shown in Annex A)," he said.
"Conceptually, for one additional point received, the concerned applicant could be deemed as having waited on the WL for one more month," he said.
"The relative priority of the applicants on the WL will be determined according to the points received. The higher the number of points accumulated, the earlier the applicant will be offered a PRH flat," the spokesman added.
The annual allocation quota for non-elderly one-person applicants will be set at around 1,000 to 2,000 PRH flats, or at 10 per cent of the total number of PRH units available to WL applicants in that year.
"Actual quota will be set together with the other allocation categories when mapping out the yearly PRH allocation plan taking account of the prevailing PRH supply," the spokesman said.
The spokesman said that the average waiting time for applicants aged 40 or above is expected to be kept at around three years but the waiting time for young applicants would inevitably be longer.
"Introduction of the QPS will inevitably lengthen the average waiting time for non-elderly one-person applicants beyond three years. If we are to maintain the overall average waiting time for all WL applicants at around three years, we have to substantially shorten the waiting time for family applicants to below three years and would require construction of additional PRH units."
"As it is not our intention to further shorten the pledge on average waiting time to below three years for family applicants, it is agreed that in calculating the overall average waiting time for PRH, the waiting time of the non-elderly one-person applicants should be excluded." the spokesman said.
"Applicants who have passed the Comprehensive Means Test (CMT) before the SHC's endorsement today will be exempted from the application of the QPS," he said, adding that some 4,800 among the 34,600 non-elderly one-person applicants on the WL have passed the CMT as at end August 2005.
"For applicants who have not undergone the CMT, points will be allotted on the basis of their age and whether they are PRH tenants at the time of submission of applications. Their position on the WL will be re-prioritized according to the points received and their actual waiting time", the spokesman said.
"For incumbent PRH residents, a grace period of three months will be granted so that they can decide whether to cancel their PRH tenancy in the light of their own circumstances," the spokesman added. Details of the implementation arrangements are shown in Annex B.
The Housing Department will review the effectiveness of the scheme after one year. It further undertakes to improve the operation of the existing overcrowding relief and internal transfer schemes and review the flat design for one-person households.
Ends/Thursday, September 29, 2005
Issued at HKT 19:46
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