LCQ17: Housing Authority's Housing for Senior Citizens
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    Following is a question by the Hon Albert Chan and a written reply by the Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands, Mr Michael Suen, in the Legislative Council today (6 June):

Question:

     As tenants of Housing for Senior Citizens ("HSC") units provided for elderly singletons have to share the use of kitchens and toilets, the vacancy rate of such units has remained on the high side.  In view of this, the Housing Authority lifted the age limit for these units in 2001.  I have learnt that conflicts often arise between younger and elderly tenants because of different living habits.  In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)  of the number of HSC units at the end of each of the past three years which had been left vacant for three months or more;

(b)  of the number of HSC units allocated by the Housing Department to applicants on the Waiting List in each of the past three years, and the age distribution of the persons being allocated such units; and

(c)  whether it will restore the age limit for HSC units; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?


Reply:

Madam President,

     The tenants of the earliest Housing for Senior Citizens (HSC) have to share kitchens and toilets.  Some of the units of the later designs are provided with independent toilets, but the kitchen facilities still have to be shared.  As most public rental housing (PRH) applicants prefer one-person self-contained PRH units, and the waiting time has been shortened due to the increase in the supply of small self-contained PRH units, many applicants have refused to move to HSC units.  This has resulted in a relatively high vacancy rate for HSC, in particular the old-style units with shared kitchen and toilet facilities.  To better utilise the public housing resources, the Housing Authority (HA) relaxed the age restriction for HSC tenants in 2001, allowing non-elderly singletons with housing needs to live in HSC units.

     In 2005, the HA conducted a survey on the living conditions of the HSC tenants.  The results revealed that the HSC tenants could live together harmoniously as a whole.  There were only a small number of disputes arising from different living habits of the residents.  From 2004 to 2005, among the 7 600 HSC tenants, there were only three dispute cases involving elderly and non-elderly tenants.

     HSC provides 24-hour warden service.  Most of the disputes have been promptly resolved through the wardens' mediation.  In fact, apart from helping resolve disputes, the wardens also organise social activities to foster harmonious relations among tenants.  For cases which are difficult to resolve, the Housing Department will arrange counselling service by social workers.  Transfer may also be considered if the situation so warrants.

     My reply to the three-part question is as follows:

(a)  Over the past three years, the numbers of HSC units which had been left vacant for three months or more are as follows :

Year                  No. of flats vacant
(as at 31 December)   for three months or more                        
2004                      840
2005                      1 337
2006                      754

(b)  Over the past three years, the numbers of HSC units allocated to Waiting List applicants and the age distribution of these applicants are as follows:

           
Year     ¡¡No. of     Elderly      Non-elderly
(as at 31  flats      applicants   applicants
December)  allocated  (60 years    (under 60
                      or above)    years)
                                                               
2004       436         268          168
2005       456         286          170
2006       233         145           88

(c)  The reason for the HA to relax the age restriction for HSC tenants is to reduce the vacancy rate for HSC and speed up the allocation of flats to non-elderly persons with housing needs, so as to achieve a better utilisation of resources.  Past experience shows that tenants of different ages generally get along harmoniously and disputes are few.  Therefore, the HA has no plan to reinstate the age restriction for HSC tenants.

     In the long run, the HA is converting HSC units with consistently high vacancy rate (usually the old-style units with shared kitchen and toilet facilities) into normal PRH flats or other uses by phases.  It is anticipated that about 500 units would be converted every year.  Apart from better utilising the resources, the conversion scheme would fundamentally resolve the daily living problems that tenants may encounter in sharing the use of facilities.  Vacant HSC units covered by the conversion scheme will not be re-allocated to applicants.

Ends/Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Issued at HKT 13:01

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