January 10th, 2020
As the supply of Public Rental Housing (PRH) has fallen short, the DAB supports to provide more transitional homes and welcomes the decision of the Sun Hung Kai Properties to lease out three parcels of land that altogether create a total of 2,000 transitional housing units.
Wilson OR, Chairman of the LegCo Panel on Housing and DAB spokesperson on Housing, said “the government, as Hong Kong’s largest ‘landlord’, should proactively optimize the use of land resources to build more transitional housing units”. He also urged the LegCo to approve the $5 billion fund allotted by the government for transitional housing as soon as possible.
Vincent CHENG, Chairman of the “Subcommittee to Follow Up Issues Related to Inadequate Housing and Relevant Housing Policies”, said “on top of searching for suitable locations, the government should also proactively construct transitional housing. The responsibility of providing housing should not fall entirely on NGOs or non-government institutions. The government should provide rent allowances for tenants of subdivided units, proactively study the implementation of tenancy control of subdivided units, and even promote “standard tenancy agreement” to protect grassroots who are still living in subdivided flats.
Wilson OR added, “because of the project’s large scale and involves non-residential facilities and services, we suggest that the lease period should be started from the time tenants move in, and it needs to set aside time to clear up the land.”
Media Inquiries:
Wilson OR , Chairman of the Panel on Housing (9266 1035) Vincent CHENG, DAB Legislative Councilor (6373 1979)