About 27 600 public rental housing units estimated to be available for allocation in 2022-23
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The Subsidised Housing Committee of the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) today (June 20) approved the estimated public rental housing (PRH) allocation for 2022-23 and was briefed on the actual allocation in 2021-22.
"For the year 2021-22, the actual allocation was 25 955 flats (i.e. the number of flats taken up by applicants on or before March 31, 2022), representing 83.7 per cent of the original estimation. The major reason for the difference was that the Government, in view of the severity of the fifth wave of the COVID-19 epidemic, announced on February 15, 2022, the use of Blocks 1 and 7 of Queens Hill Estate in Fanling and Heng King House of Lai King Estate in Kwai Chung (a total of 3 098 flats) as community isolation facilities," a spokesman for the HA said.
"Since the actual intake date of these PRH flats had to be deferred by a few months to May or June 2022, their allocation was not reflected in the figures this year. In addition, the severity of the COVID-19 epidemic has affected the progress of allocation," the spokesman said.
For 2022-23, it is estimated that a total of about 27 600 PRH flats, comprising about 12 500 new flats and about 15 100 refurbished flats, will be available for allocation to different categories of applicants. Among them, the largest portion will go to PRH applicants with about 20 200 flats (73.2 per cent) to be allocated to them.
"This estimation is not an upper limit. If there is any new PRH estate completed ahead of schedule, we will allocate the PRH flats concerned to the applicants as soon as possible. We will also closely monitor the actual allocation figures of various categories. Any PRH flats exceeding the estimate in any particular category will be allocated to the PRH applicants before the close of the year," the spokesman said.
"The annual allocation quota for non-elderly one-person applicants under the Quota and Points System (QPS) is set at 10 per cent of the total number of flats to be allocated to PRH applicants with an upper limit of 2 200 flats. Based on this principle, the allocation quota for QPS applicants in 2022-23 is 2 020 flats or 10 per cent of the total number of flats to be allocated to PRH applicants, whichever is less."
Moreover, 350 flats will be reserved for the category of clearance rehousing residents affected by clearance projects planned by different departments, including the Kwu Tung North and Fanling North New Development Areas project, public housing developments at Kam Tin South in Yuen Long, and other squatter clearances by the Government, emergency clearances, unauthorised rooftop structure clearances and so forth. Another 120 flats will be set aside for rehousing residents affected by the Urban Renewal Authority's redevelopment projects scheduled for 2022-23.
"As estate clearance projects have yet to commence, it is not necessary to reserve any flat under this category in 2022-23. For the clearance rehousing of Shek Lei Interim Housing, a few households who have been exempted from the Comprehensive Means Test and are eligible for direct PRH allocation will be granted admission to PRH with their 'direct offer' status and 20 flats will be reserved by the HA under this category for rehousing," the spokesman said.
"For the category of Compassionate Rehousing (CR), 1 500 flats will be reserved for 2022-23 . This figure is not an upper limit and, where resources permit, we will follow the established policy to handle all the demands for CR as recommended by the Social Welfare Department," he said.
In addition, 4 410 flats will be set aside for various transfer purposes for 2022-23, among which 1 100 flats will be used for the transfer of under-occupation households and around 1 000 flats for the Territory-wide Overcrowding Relief Exercise and the Living Space Improvement Transfer Scheme. The remaining approximately 2 310 flats will be flexibly deployed by the HA for other transfer purposes including Special Transfer, Harmonious Families Transfer Scheme, and Full Rent Exemption for Elderly Under-occupation Transfer and Management Transfer.
"We will reserve 1 000 flats under the Civil Service Public Housing Quota Scheme in 2022-23 as in 2021-22," the spokesman said.
"We will closely monitor any changes in the circumstances and will maintain flexibility in the allocation of PRH flats to ensure optimisation of resources," he added.
(Please refer to the table on the breakdown of estimated allocation for different categories in 2022-23.)
Ends/Monday, June 20, 2022
Issued at HKT 15:50
Issued at HKT 15:50
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