Staggering costs

Stacy Shi

It would cost the government HK$4.39 billion every five years in running 30,000 light public housing units - almost twice the operating expenses for ordinary public housing flats - as shuttle buses, security and maintenance would be provided, says Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho Wing-yin.

For the current fiscal year, HK$13.54 million has been allocated as the operating budget, with an average monthly operating cost of about HK$1,000 per unit, or HK$3.7 per square foot.

At a Legislative Council finance committee special meeting yesterday, Vincent Cheng Wing-shun from the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong said it could be a potential burden for residents to pay HK$1,000 in management fees.

While Ho told lawmakers the operating contract of light public housing includes elements of community service on top of cleaning, security, repair and maintenance services, it is double the cost of operating public rental housing.

"Taking the Tuen Mun Siu Lam project as an example, the charges [to tenants] will include the expense of setting up bus stations, operating bus routes, or opening up Siu Lam waterfront promenade as a jogging lane for residents."

Lawmaker Scott Leung Man-kwong expressed concern that 70 percent of light public housing units are designed for one or two occupants but a large number of families who live in subdivided flats are three-person households.

Only 20 percent of light public housing units are for three- to four-person households, with the remaining 10 percent meant for four- to five-person units.

Responding to Leung's inquiry on the possibility to convert one- or two-person units into larger units when more families with at least three members apply, Ho cited data from transitional housing operators that the demand for bigger flats is higher in urban areas, and officials have planned accordingly when formulating light public housing projects.

The first project at Yuen Long Yau Pok Road is expected to provide 2,100 units in the first quarter next year at the earliest, and will start accepting applications in the middle of this year, Ho said.

Meanwhile, Election Committee lawmaker Wendy Hong Wen blasted the public rental housing cash allowance trial scheme, saying the government is "rewarding couch potatoes."

Ho brushed off Hong's claims, saying the government has been smoothing out the property ladder to encourage teenagers to purchase their own homes.

"The public housing system definitely does not encourage young people to queue for a unit once they reach 18. The objective is to provide homes for grassroots and elderly people," she said.

Hong also accused the government of failing to provide the projections on the proportion of various housing project categories in the coming 10 years.

Ho said realistic data is required to draw up the strategy and also maintain the flexibility to respond to changes in society, economic conditions and demand.

stacy.shi@singtaonewscorp.com