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Following is a question by Dr the Hon Kwok Ka-ki and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, in the Legislative Council today (January 20):
Question:
Interim housing (IH) mainly provides interim accommodation for persons affected by natural disasters or government clearance operations while waiting for public rental housing (PRH) allocation, after they have stayed in the transit centre for three months, passed the "homeless test" and fulfilled the eligibility criteria for PRH. Regarding IH, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it reviewed the policies and regulations (including the construction of new IH or otherwise, the locations for the construction of IH, the eligibility criteria for IH, the accommodation arrangements for occupants after they have moved out of IH) relating to IH in the past five years; if it did, of the details; if not, how the authorities ensure that such policies and regulations are kept abreast of the times;
(2) of the following figures in the past five years: (i) the number of occupants of IH, broken down by the causes for their becoming homeless and thus having the need to move into IH, (ii) the number of occupants who moved out of IH, and among such occupants, the number of those who moved into PRH units, and (iii) whether the authorities followed up the moving-out cases properly to ensure that the occupants concerned were provided with appropriate housing after moving out;
(3) whether it knows, in the past five years, (i) the number of residential units affected by the redevelopment projects implemented by the Urban Renewal Authority in collaboration with various developers, (ii) the number of sub-divisions of flat units (commonly known as "sub-divided units") for domestic use in industrial buildings eradicated by the authorities, and (iii) the number of residents affected by redevelopment projects or operations to eradicate sub-divided units, and among such residents, the number of those who moved into IH; whether the authorities have followed up such cases properly to ensure that the affected residents could find appropriate housing; and
(4) as it was reported in October last year that the Housing Department was examining the construction of PRH buildings on Shek Lei IH site and a site nearby, and some 800 households of occupants would thus be affected, whether the authorities have drawn up a timetable for demolishing Shek Lei IH; if they have, of the details; whether the authorities have fully consulted the affected occupants on the removal arrangements, and how the authorities will rehouse them; whether the authorities will construct IH in the same district so as to rehouse the affected occupants in the same district?
Reply:
President,
With input from the Development Bureau, my consolidated reply to the various parts of the question raised by Dr the Hon Kwok Ka-ki is as follows.
Parts (1) and (4):
According to the prevailing policy of the Government, any persons who are rendered homeless as a result of Government actions (such as clearance of unauthorised structures, Court Bailiff's execution of court orders to repossess private building units, etc.), natural disasters or emergencies, they can, through the referral of relevant departments such as Buildings Department (BD), Lands Department, Social Welfare Department (SWD), the Bailiff Section, etc., apply to the Housing Department (HD) for temporary accommodation in transit centres (TC) while awaiting eligibility vetting for further rehousing or in the interim period while looking for alternative accommodation themselves. Generally speaking, after these households have stayed in TC for three months and passed the "homeless test", if they fulfill the eligibility criteria for public rental housing (PRH) (including income limit, asset limit and "no domestic property" rule), HD will arrange for their admission to Interim Housing (IH) while awaiting PRH allocation through PRH application. Furthermore, any persons who are rendered homeless as a result of HD's PRH tenancy enforcement or estate management actions (such as rent default, tenancy abuse, violation of Marking Scheme for Estate Management Enforcement, divorce, etc.), if they fulfill the eligibility criteria for IH, they can also be temporarily admitted to IH while awaiting PRH allocation through fresh applications.
Currently, IHs under HA are located at Po Tin, Shek Lei and Long Bin. HA reviews the occupancy, building conditions, maintenance cost and other factors of IH units from time to time with a view to making corresponding arrangements for better utilisation of public resources. For instance, HA previously converted some of the IH units in Po Tin into PRH units in view of the decline in demand for the former. Furthermore, HA decided in 2013 to clear Long Bin IH for public housing development. Rehousing arrangements are being implemented as planned and affected households are gradually moving out. If HA decides to proceed with any redevelopment plan for other IHs, HA will give reasonable advance notice to affected households and put in place appropriate rehousing arrangements in accordance with the established practice. IH is transitional accommodation by nature. Households which are due for PRH allocation at the time of removal will be offered suitable PRH units according to their choices of PRH districts. Households which are not yet due for PRH allocation will move to other IH.
PRH is the ultimate solution to address the housing needs of low-income families who cannot afford private rental accommodation. As set out in the Long Term Housing Strategy Annual Progress Report 2015 published in December 2015, the Government has adopted 200 000 PRH units as the supply target for the ten-year period from 2016-17 to 2025-26. The current stock of IH units is also expected to be sufficient to meet the demand. HA will focus its resources to provide PRH and has no plan to build new IH at the moment.
Part (2):
As mentioned above, there are various reasons for admission into IH. Apart from Government's clearance actions, PRH tenants may also be admitted to IH if they are rendered homeless as a result of rent default, tenancy abuse, violation of Marking Scheme for Estate Management Enforcement and divorce. HD does not maintain statistical breakdown of admissions to IH by reasons. The total number of households staying in IH over the past five years is listed below -
Year Number of households
2011 (as at end December) 2 950
2012 (as at end December) 3 031
2013 (as at end December) 3 133
2014 (as at end December) 3 227
2015 (as at end December) 3 127
Over the past five years, 3 750 households have moved out of IH, 3 123 of which have been allocated with PRH units. Reasons for those who have not been allocated with PRH include death, moving to elderly homes, acquired alternative accommodation, failure to pass the income and assets, etc. Those who have moved out of IH may, depending on their needs, apply for PRH in the future if they meet the prevailing eligibility criteria for PRH.
Part (3):
Similar to the Government, it is the established policy of the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) to ensure that no one will be rendered homeless as a result of its redevelopment projects. In the past five years, 1 330 residential units, involving 1 940 households, were affected by redevelopment projects under URA in collaboration with developers. URA will provide compensation and rehousing arrangements for tenants affected by its redevelopment projects on a case-by-case basis, such as allowing tenants concerned to opt for buying "in-situ" flats in the future new development through the Flat-for-Flat Scheme. In addition, according to the Memorandum of Understanding (note) between URA and HA, eligible tenants can be allocated with PRH units. According to URA's records, in the past five years, seven tenants were admitted to IH because they did not meet the criteria for immediate rehousing to PRH (for reasons such as less than half of the family members have lived in Hong Kong for seven years).
As regards BD, if its enforcement actions involve relocation of tenants, BD will closely liaise with SWD, Home Affairs Department and HD to provide suitable assistance to those who are affected. BD has established social services teams to provide necessary social welfare and emotional support for affected tenants. Since 2012, BD has stepped up enforcement actions against subdivided units for illegal domestic use in industrial buildings, with enforcement actions being taken against 44 such units. BD has also provided a one-off relocation subsidy, through the assistance programme endorsed by the Steering Committee on the Community Care Fund, to the aforementioned tenants who have to move out of the domestic subdivided units in industrial buildings due to BD's enforcement actions. As mentioned above, any persons who are rendered homeless due to Government actions can apply to HD for temporary accommodation in TC. HD does not maintain a statistical breakdown of admissions to IH by reasons. However, according to a search of the administrative records, since 2012, 12 persons were provided with temporary accommodation in TC due to BD's enforcement actions against subdivided units for illegal domestic use in industrial buildings, ten of them were subsequently admitted to IH.
Note:
In accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding entered into between HA and the URA in June 2002 and revised in June 2012, every year HA reserves a certain number of PRH units for rehousing clearees of URA, while URA shall pay HA reservation fees equivalent to the amount of monthly rent payable for the units reserved. Tenants rehoused to PRH must have been genuinely living in the project area before and since the Freezing Survey of the project conducted by the URA and have no alternative accommodation. They must also fulfill the prevailing eligibility criteria for PRH.
Ends/Wednesday, January 20, 2016
Issued at HKT 14:25
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