Information Paper for the Legislative Council Panel on Housing

Rehousing Policy for Clearees of Temporary Housing Areas

Purpose

This paper informs Members of the rehousing policy for clearees of Temporary Housing Areas (THAs).

Background

2. THAs, an early form of interim housing, provide accommodation for those who are rendered homeless for one reason or another but are not immediately eligible for permanent public housing. Since these THAs comprise old-type low-rise timber structures, the living environment is not satisfactory. Over the years the Government has been making efforts to improve the living environment of the residents. Briefly, we have cleared all the pre-1984 THAs, and made rehousing offer to all households (39,000 persons) living in THAs in September 1995 by the end of 1997(Note 1) .

3. The Government has pledged in the 1997 Policy Address to clear the remaining old-style THAs by 2000 by rehousing eligible clearees in public housing, including interim housing(Note 2), in order to improve the living conditions of those affected and to free land for development. Six of these THAs have now been cleared. The remaining 12 THAs, with a population of about 13,000 persons, will be cleared before the end of 2000. The clearance programme is at Annex I.

Rehousing Policy

(A) THA residents who moved in on or before 23 September 1995 and THA residents who were affected by clearance operations with announcement dates on or before 23 September 1995 but were subsequently rehoused to THAs

4. To be eligible for public rental housing upon clearance, these residents are required to fulfil the following criteria-

1. they must be authorized residents registered with the Housing Department under a license;

2. they must be in genuine residence at the affected THA units;

3. they must not own any domestic property, or have entered into any agreement for the purchase of any domestic property, nor have they disposed of any such property within 24 months before the date of announcement of clearance; and

4. they must not have purchased a flat under the various subsidised housing schemes.

(B) THA residents who moved in after 23 September 1995

5. These residents are required to register on the Waiting List for public rental housing. If their Waiting List applications have yet to mature at the time of clearance, they will be offered another interim housing unit. If their Waiting List applications mature at the time of clearance, they will be offered public rental housing units if they can fulfil the prevailing eligibility criteria, including the income-cum-asset test. If they fail to meet the criteria, they will be offered interim housing as they may still have a temporary housing need. However, their stay in interim housing will be restricted to one year only and they will be required to pay license fees equivalent to market rent of the premises. During this period, they will be given priority for the purchase of Home Ownership Scheme / Private Sector Participation Scheme flats or the grant of loan under the Home Purchase Loan Scheme if they meet the normal eligibility criteria as if they were White Form applicants.

6. The purpose of the policy is to ensure fair allocation of public housing resources. To eliminate the possibility of queue-jumping and to ensure equity in the allocation of public housing resources, the Housing Authority endorsed the policy on 23 September 1995 that all THA residents who moved in thereafter should register on the Waiting List. They would be allocated public rental flats only when their Waiting List applications mature.

Removal Allowance

7. All THA clearees are entitled to prevailing domestic ex-gratia removal allowances as set out in Annex II.

Housing Department
December 1998

Annex I

Clearance Program of Temporary Housing Areas (THAs)

Name of THA	Estimated no. of blocks	Estimated no. of households	Estimated no. of persons	Date of complete site clearance (tentative)	Major reception estate (Anticipated completion date)
A. Structures to be cleared by the Government
Tsing On	6	153	399	December 1999	Lei Muk Shue & Kwai Shing East Estates, Kwai Chung (January 1999 and May 1999)
Kai Lok	46	667	1901	April 2000	Tsz Ching Estate, Tsz Wan Shan (May 1999)
Kai Wo	10	150	376	April 2000	Tsz Ching Estate, Tsz Wan Shan (May 1999)
Kai Yiu	11	144	423	April 2000	Tsz Ching Estate, Tsz Wan Shan (May 1999)
Sha Kok Mei	51	946	2359	May 2000	Sheung Tak Estate, Tseung Kwan O (January 1999)
Long Bin	15	503	920	October 2000	Tin Shui Wai Area 30 (October 1999)
	_______	_______	_______
Sub-total	139	2563	6378
	_______	_______	_______

Name of THA	Estimated no. of blocks	Estimated no. of households	Estimated no. of persons	Date of complete site clearance (tentative)	Major reception estate (Anticipated completion date)
B. Structures to be cleared by Housing Authority
Tsing Yan	63	718	2700	April 1999	Lei Muk Shue Estate, Kwai Chung (January 1999)
Kwai Shun	7	114	331	December 1999	Lei Muk Shue & Kwai Shing East Estates, Kwai Chung (January 1999 - May 1999)
Kwai Lok	9	118	305	December 1999	Lei Muk Shue & Kwai Shing East Estates, Kwai Chung (January 1999 - May 1999)
Tseung Kwan O	25	667	1511	May 2000	Sheung Tak Estate, Tseung Kwan O (January 1999)
Fat Tseung Street	38	444	1220	June 2000	Hoi Fu Estate, Mong Kok (September 1999)
Lung Ping Road	24	212	554	June 2000	Hoi Fu Estate, Mong Kok (September 1999)
	_______	_______	_______
Sub-total	166	2273	6621
	_______	_______	_______

Annex II

Domestic ex-gratia removal allowance for
households affected by clearance of Temporary Housing Areas

Household size	Rate of allowance ($)
1 person	3,670
2-3 persons	7,030
4-5 persons	8,670
6 persons & above	10,900

The allowance is payable to all eligible households who are covered by a licence and living in domestic structures in Temporary Housing Areas that are compulsorily cleared.