Purpose

At the special meeting on 30 March, Members were concerned about the eligibility of the unauthorized persons for direct offer of public rental housing upon clearance of their Temporary Housing Areas (THAs), and the type of clearance notices that determined the rehousing eligibility of the former occupants of unauthorized rooftop structures and squatter areas. This paper provides the relevant supporting documents and answers Members' queries.

Eligibility of unauthorized persons in THAs

2. The former Management and Operations Committee of the Housing Authority approved the proposals in paper MOC 84/95 (copy at Annex A for Members' reference) on 23 September 1995 that:-

1. a direct offer of public rental housing should be granted to the then THA residents and clearees affected by squatter clearances already announced; and
   
   
2. people subsequently affected by clearances and rehoused to THAs should submit an application under the Waiting List and be allocated public rental housing units only when their applications have matured.

3. The Housing Department (HD) is consistent in implementing the policy. All unauthorized residents in THAs who can provide evidence on their continuous residence before the announcement of clearance are assumed to be eligible for allocation of THA space and will, therefore, be given direct offer of public rental housing after moving into another THA. Those unauthorized residents who moved into the THAs after the announcement of clearance are required to register on the Waiting List in order to be eligible for public rental housing.

Eligibility of former occupants of unauthorized rooftop structures and squatter areas

4. THA residents who moved in after 23 September 1995 as a result of clearance of squatter areas and unauthorized rooftop structures were not eligible for direct offer of public rental housing. They will be required to register on the Waiting List and those eligible applicants will be allocated public rental housing flats when their applications mature. Only those who were affected by clearance operations with announcement date on or before 23 September 1995 and subsequently rehoused to THA are not required to register on the Waiting List in order to be eligible for public rental housing.

5. The HD takes the date of survey notice and Notice of Intention as the clearance announcement date for squatter areas and unauthorized rooftop structures. Samples of the notice for Government land and private land are given at Annex B and C respectively. A pre-clearance survey will be conducted to register the squatters on the day when the survey notice is put up. Likewise, the HD will conduct pre-clearance freezing survey on the day when the Buildings Department serves a Notice of Intention (copy at Annex D) to the occupants of unauthorized rooftop structures. Affected clearees will be rehoused to public rental housing or interim housing according to their eligibility.


Housing Department
April 1999