Legislative Council Panel on Housing
San Fat Estate Redevelopment

This paper aims to brief Members on the rehousing arrangement for residents of San Fat Estate upon redevelopment.

Background

2. San Fat Estate is the first public housing estate in Tuen Mun built 27 years ago. The facilities and buildings have become obsolete and cannot meet the present standards. To improve the living environment of the residents, the Housing Authority (HA) included San Fat Estate in the Comprehensive Redevelopment Programme (CRP) in 1988, and later announced in the 1996 "Five-Year Redevelopment Programme" that it would be redeveloped in 2000-01.

Reception estate for San Fat Estate residents

3. Under the prevailing policy, the HA would rehouse residents involved in the CRP in the same district as far as resources permit. Tuen Mun Area 52 has been designated as the reception estate for San Fat Estate. 3,000 public rental housing flats and 2,200 Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) flats will be built. Together with the casual vacancies in nearby estates, there will be adequate units to rehouse residents affected by San Fat Estate redevelopment. Community facilities including elderly centre, kindergarten, nursery, youth centre, clinic, shopping centre, bus/mini-bus stations, taxi stands and 1.6 acres of recreational area will be provided in Tuen Mun Area 52 to meet the need of residents.

4. Some residents and concern groups have suggested insitu rehousing or building a reception estate in the nearby playground. The Housing Department (HD) had made a thorough study and found that the area of San Fat Estate is too small for insitu rehousing, while there is not enough time for the construction of a reception estate in the nearby playground to tie in with the redevelopment of San Fat Estate. The HD concludes that Tuen Mun Area 52 is the best option identified for a reception estate.

Rehousing arrangements upon redevelopment

5. Announcement of particulars of redevelopment, including evacuation date and the reception estate, would be formally announced 18-24 months before the evacuation date. The same arrangement will be made for San Fat Estate redevelopment. Other rehousing arrangements include -

(a) Domestic removal allowance

Redevelopment tenants are entitled to a domestic removal allowance upon removal. For a household with 4-5 persons, the domestic removal allowance is $8,670.

(b) Mortgage subsidy scheme

Redevelopment tenants may opt to purchase HOS flats and are accorded first priority in application. Starting from HOS Phase 20A, CRP tenants, except those tenants currently paying market rent, can enjoy a mortgage subsidy allowance up to a maximum of $162,000 over a period of six years for the purchase of HOS flats.

(c) Rehousing allowance for single persons and two-person families

Single persons and two-person families may opt for an allowance in lieu of rehousing to another public rental housing flat. The rehousing allowance for single persons and two-person families are $37,330 and $48,310 respectively. They will however be barred from any form of public housing for the following two years.

6. For the purpose of easing the rehousing of San Fat Estate residents, District Officer (Tuen Mun) has set up an inter-departmental working group to co-ordinate the efforts of relevant departments, including the HD, Social Welfare Department and Transport Department. The working group is mindful of the significant number of elderly singletons and couples who may be affected by the redevelopment and will pay particular attention to alleviating their anxiety about the need to adapt to a new living environment.

The use of the site of San Fat Estate after demolition

7. HD is vested with the land use and management of public housing estates, but is not the land owner of the estates. Upon redevelopment of public housing estates, the Government has the right to recover the land for other development use. For instance, community facilities, schools and parks were built after demolition of Jordan Valley Estate, part of Upper Wong Tai Sin Estate and Chai Wan Estate. The role of HD is confined to rehousing residents affected and to vacating the site for demolition in the redevelopment programme. The site may not be used for the development of public housing estate.

8. In the case of San Fat Estate redevelopment, HD will return the site to the Government after demolition. A public transport interchange for the future West Rail Tuen Mun Centre Station will be constructed on the site after the existing San Fat Estate is demolished. The Government has not yet determined the development use above the transport interchange.

Housing Department
September 1998