***********************************************************
The following is issued on behalf of the Housing Authority:
Tenants of public rental housing of the Housing Authority (HA) will not need to pay rent for August and September following approval by the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council to relief measures of the Government.
The provision of the two-month rent payment for public housing tenants is part of the relief measures announced by the Financial Secretary in May in light of the impact of the economic downturn on the community.
"The Government will pay the rent in full for tenants and licensees paying normal rent. As for tenants and licensees paying additional rent, the Government will pay for them their net rent, while they are required to pay for the portion of their additional rent," a spokesman for the HA said today (June 19).
The authority will notify all the tenants and licensees individually in July informing them of the arrangements.
Funding for the rent payment was approved by the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council today. About 670,000 public housing households of the Housing Authority will benefit from the arrangement. An estimate of $1.714 billion is expected to be received by the authority from the Government.
Ends/Friday, June 19, 2009
Issued at HKT 19:21
NNNN