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The following is issued on behalf of the Community Care Fund Secretariat:
Applications for the Community Care Fund (CCF)'s relaunched assistance programme "One-off Living Subsidy for Low-income Households Not Living in Public Housing and Not Receiving CSSA" will close on August 31 (Monday). Eligible households must submit their applications for the subsidy on or before the deadline.
The programme aims to relieve the financial pressure on low-income households. The amount of subsidy is $4,000 for one-person households, $8,000 for two-person households, $11,000 for three-person households and $13,000 for four-or-more-person households.
Beneficiaries should currently be renting accommodation in private housing, industrial or commercial buildings on a monthly basis (or for longer tenures); or renting bedspaces offered under the Home Affairs Department's Singleton Hostel Programme; or residing in temporary housing; or living on board vessels; or homeless persons. Their monthly income must not exceed the specified limits. They should not be receiving Comprehensive Social Security Assistance or own any property in Hong Kong. For those renting accommodation in private housing, industrial or commercial buildings, their monthly rent should not exceed the specified rental limits. The specified income and rental limits are as follows:
Household size Household income Rental
(persons) limit ($) limit ($)
(if applicable)
-------------- ---------------- ---------------
1 9,670 4,835
2 14,970 7,485
3 19,820 9,910
4 24,750 12,375
5 27,490 13,745
6 or above 30,780 15,390
Eligible households who benefited from the first round of the programme from December 2013 to August 2014 should have received notification for confirming eligibility from the CCF Secretariat. Households who meet the eligibility criteria of the programme should complete the reply slip with appendices attached to the notification and return it to the Secretariat to confirm eligibility before August 31. Upon verification of the eligibility of the household, the Secretariat will send notification of the eligibility verification result to the household. The Secretariat will disburse the subsidy to eligible households according to their chosen method under the first round of the programme (i.e. either through direct payment into a bank account or by order cheque).
Other eligible households should submit new applications to service units. Households with elderly people only (i.e. all members in the household are aged 65 or above), households with young people only (i.e. all members in the household are aged 24 or below) or homeless people can submit applications to elderly service units, youth service units or service units accepting applications from homeless people respectively. The Secretariat and service units will vet each application, including verifying eligibility, checking the supporting documents submitted, and conducting visits/home visits and income tests on selected applications. The Secretariat will issue notifications of application results to applicants after vetting the applications concerned and disburse the subsidy to eligible households through direct payment into a bank account or by order cheque.
The Secretariat has verified the eligibility of households who benefited from the first round of the programme and has accepted new applications in phases according to household size from January this year. As at August 14, the Secretariat had disbursed the subsidy to around 48 000 eligible households (around 113 000 persons), involving about $406 million.
For details of the programme, please visit the CCF website (www.communitycarefund.hk) or call the programme hotline on 2180 6666.
Ends/Sunday, August 16, 2015
Issued at HKT 11:00
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