(Translation)

2 October 1996

Mrs. Vivian KAM
Chief Assistant Secretary (1)2
LegCo Secretariat

Dear Mrs. Kam,

In preparation for the meeting of the LegCo Panel on Housing to be held on 16 October 1996, I would like to raise the following questions. Please convey them to the Housing Branch and urge for an early written reply.

Waiting Time

1. It is stated in the Progress Report of this year that the Administration has provided rental flats to over 12 000 Waiting List applicants in the past 12 months, whose average waiting time was approximately 6.5 years. Please provide a breakdown in tabular form of the respective numbers of people among these 12 000 applicants who have been waited for one year, two years, three years....up to ten years and ten years and above.

2. How many households are there on the Waiting List at present? Please provide a breakdown in tabular form of the respective numbers of people who have been waited for one year, two years, three years....up to ten years and ten years and above.

3. The Governor has pledged in his 1995 Policy Address to reduce the average waiting time for a rental flat from seven years at present to five years by 2001. Please provide in tabular form the annual figures of the following up to 2001:

1. the supply of public housing units(including new units and refurbished flats);
2. the envisaged increase in the number of applications on the Waiting List;
3. the number of public housing units allocated to households on the Waiting List; and
4. the number of households on the Waiting List which are eligible for public housing (Effective Rate).

4. Please provide the average waiting time at present for allocation of public housing units in the following districts: Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, Junk Bay, Tsuen Wan, Shatin, Tai Po / Fanling / Sheung Shui, Tin Shui Wai.

5. The Director of Housing suggested to determine the priority of flats allocation to Waiting List applicants by their individual need, instead of allocating flats on first come first serve basis. Will the applicants be required to declare their income/assets and living conditions regularly under the new practice? Please compare the management costs involved in the new approach and that of the current practice. Since the Director of Housing considers that those with substandard living conditions and lower income are in more urgent need of public housing, will the Government consider providing rent assistance to them so as to ease their burden?

Temporary Housing / Interim Housing

1. The Government indicated last year that it would continue identifying sites for production of interim housing. What is the progress in this aspect? Please provide a list of the locations of the sites identified and the time when these sites will be available.

2. The Government also indicated that it would identify to-be-redeveloped public housing sites earmarked for uses other than housing (such as Block 12 of Kwai Shing Estate) for use as temporary housing. Please provide a list of the locations of these sites and the time when they will be converted to "concrete temporary housing".

3. The Governor said that 13 Temporary Housing Areas (THA) will be retained in 1997. Please provide in tabular form the planned use, development schedule, clearance time-table and current population of each of these 13 THA.

4. Please provide the numbers of refurbished flats and new public housing units allocated to THA residents last year and compare the figures with the numbers of flats allocated to other categories of Waiting List applicants. How many THA residents were offered local rehousing last year? (Please provide a breakdown of the numbers of such residents in each THA.)

(signed)

LAM Pui-yee
for Hon LEE Wing-tat
Chairman, LegCo Panel on Housing

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