The Housing Bureau (HB) today (January 30) arranged a visit to a Light Public Housing (LPH) mock-up unit at Kai Tak for Executive Council members, Legislative Council Members and the media to learn more about the living environment and design of LPH. The Secretary for Housing, Ms Winnie Ho, also hosted a briefing on the latest progress of LPH projects.
 
     Ms Ho announced more LPH sites at the briefing. Apart from the four sites announced earlier, i.e. Tuen Mun Area 3A, Tuen Mun Area 54, Yuen Long Yau Pok Road and the Sheung Shui Lin Tong Mei sites, the latest list comprising eight sites includes Kai Tak Olympic Avenue, Ngau Tau Kok Choi Hing Road, Chai Wan Sheung On Street/Sheung Ping Street and Siu Lam Lok On Pai. The media also visited the Kai Tak Olympic Avenue LPH site, which is estimated to provide over 10 000 LPH units.
 
     The LPH mock-up unit is set up at the Kai Tak Community Isolation Facility. It is a mock-up of a unit for four to five persons with a self-contained toilet, shower area and open cooking space. It is also equipped with basic facilities such as a water heater and an exhaust fan. LPH units come in different sizes, ranging from small units for one to two persons, to large units for three to four and four to five persons. The internal floor area of LPH units ranges from about 13 to 31 square metres. See Annex for the artist's impression of LPH.
 
     Open spaces will be reserved at the LPH estates for leisure and event organising purposes, and to facilitate mutual assistance among the residents. The HB has also been actively implementing ancillary transport facilities with the Transport Department. The HB also plans to invite future operating organisations to provide suitable basic services such as retail, self-service laundries, study rooms, activity rooms, leisure and community services, etc, to cater for the daily needs of the residents as far as possible.
 
     Ms Ho said that the target of the Government-led LPH is to build about 30 000 units in the coming five years (i.e. from 2023-24 to 2027-28), so as to fill the short-term gap of public housing supply as soon as possible and to improve the living conditions and quality for people living in inadequate housing. LPH will mainly cater for applicants who have been on the waiting list for traditional public rental housing for three years or more, with priority given to family applicants. It is estimated that the first batch of around 2 100 units can be completed in 2024-25 earliest. The remaining units will be completed by phases in 2025-26 and 2026-27 respectively. About half of the LPH units will be in the urban area.
 
     If compared to the similar design of transitional housing, the average unit cost of a low-rise LPH block (around three storeys) is about $530,000 in money-of-the-day prices, which is  similar to the $550,000 subsidy for each transitional housing unit. Moreover, the average gross floor area of an LPH unit in a low-rise block will be about 20 per cent bigger than that of transitional housing. For high-rise LPH blocks (around 17 to 19 storeys), since additional foundation works, structural strengthening works and more electrical and mechanical facilities are required, the average unit cost of a high-rise LPH block is about $650,000.
 
     Separately, Ms Ho has earlier led a group of subdivided unit (SDU) tenants to visit the LPH mock-up unit. They were thrilled by the LPH project and are looking forward to improving their living conditions as soon as possible. Ms Ho emphasised that LPH has a crucial social function and value. It helps the underprivileged by utilising social resources optimally, and addresses people's concerns by focusing on their livelihoods and the pain points of society. The Government will continue to liaise closely with various stakeholders. For details of the visit to the LPH mock-up unit by Ms Ho and the SDU tenants, please visit www.news.gov.hk/eng/2023/01/20230127/20230127_164256_406.html.

Ends/Monday, January 30, 2023
Issued at HKT 16:26

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