LegCo Paper No. CB(1) 1788/95-96
Ref : CB1/PL/HG/2/1

LegCo Panel on Housing
Working Group on Long Term Housing Strategy Review

Minutes of Meeting held on Monday, 24 June 1996 at 10:45 am in Conference Room B of the Legislative Council Building

Members Present :
    Hon LEE Wing-tat (Chairman)
    Hon Mrs Selina CHOW, OBE, JP
    Hon Frederick FUNG Kin-kee
    Hon CHAN Yuen-han
Members Absent :
    Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung
Staff in Attendance :
    Miss Eva LIU
    Head, Research and Library Services Division
    Mrs Vivian KAM
    Chief Assistant Secretary (1)2
    Miss Becky YU
    Senior Assistant Secretary (1)3

I. Election of Chairman

Hon LEE Wing-tat was elected Chairman of the Working Group on Long Term Housing Strategy Review (Working Group).

II. The Meeting

2. The Chairman advised that the Working Group was established to undertake researches and monitor the review of the Long Term Housing Strategy (LTHS). The Research and Library Services (RL) Division of the LegCo Secretariat had been requested to assist the Working Group in the preparation of research reports. Members considered it necessary for the Administration to provide a list of items to be reviewed by the Steering Committee on the LTHS having regard to the complexity of the subject. The Clerk was requested to prepare for the Chairman a letter to the Secretary for Housing to inform him of the establishment of the Working Group and to solicit the Administration’s assistance in providing relevant information materials to staff of the RL Division.

(Post-meeting note: A letter to the Secretary for Housing was issued on 24 June 1996)

3. As regards the approach of the research, the Chairman raised two possible approaches for members’ consideration: to conduct specific studies on individual components of housing needs or to conduct a general analysis on the overall LTHS. Miss Eva LIU favoured the latter option since a general approach would facilitate a more objective analysis. She supplemented that on the basis of the preliminary report, the Working Group could decide the areas which might require more detailed examination. Members generally supported the suggestion put forward taking into account the limited manpower resources in the RL Division and the level of expertise required for conducting specific studies.

4. Members agreed that the first research to be undertaken would be on "Study of Housing Needs and Housing Demand", the scope of which would be to comment on the effectiveness of the housing demand model drawn up by the Administration in mapping out the overall housing demand. While a member suggested that the research report should comprise different scenarios and relevant options, others expressed doubt on the reliability of such options since these would be affected by a number of variables such as the availability of resources. Miss LIU advised that one possible approach would be to identify in the report the variables which determined housing needs for members’ consideration at the next meeting. The Chairman suggested that scenarios for uncommitted housing demand of rooftop and bedspace apartment dwellers and tenants affected by private re-development programmes should also be included at a later stage. Other research topics suggested by members included "The Supply of Land" and "The Ratio of Public Housing and Home Ownership Flats vis-a-vis the Demand of the Society". To facilitate the work of the RL Division, the Clerk was requested to collate records of previous motion debates related to the LTHS.

(Post-meeting note: A list of the motion debates was forwarded to the RL Division on 29 June 1996.)

III. Date of Next Meeting

5. Members agreed to hold the next meeting on Wednesday, 31 July 1996, at 10:45 am to consider the research report on "Study of Housing Need and Housing Demand".

6. There being no other business, the meeting closed at 11:30 am.

LegCo Secretariat

8 July 1996

Last Updated on 20 Aug, 1998