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Written by: Commentary Editing Room
2020-10-15 06:30
Last update date: 2020-10-15 06:30
The Transport and Housing Bureau announced on Tuesday (13th) that it would invite Pok Oi Hospital to build transitional housing at the "Shengping School" in Ping Che, Ta Kwu Ling, and it is expected to provide 711 units.
Although new units released idle land to alleviate the pressure of housing shortage, they still failed to meet the housing target set by the government.
In the medium term, in addition to speeding up the pace of rebuilding abandoned school buildings, the government must also explore the possibility of converting transitional houses into homes for the elderly as soon as possible to meet the challenges brought about by the ageing population.
As of the end of June 2020, there were approximately 155,000 general public housing applications in Hong Kong, with an average waiting time of 5.5 years.
Faced with such a huge housing demand, the current government began to promote a private-led transitional housing plan in 2017. In its policy address last year, the Hong Kong government also set a goal of providing 10,000 transitional housing by 2023, and It was later revised upwards to 15,000 units.
However, whether the government can complete this "three-year plan" is still in doubt.
According to information from the Legislative Council, as of March this year, there were only 776 transitional housing units operated by different non-governmental organizations, even if they were combined with "announced new projects", "projects converted from entire buildings" and " "In-depth research projects", its potential supply is only 10,642.
Although the figures are barely enough for the government's initial target, factors such as project delays and project rejections will also greatly reduce the actual supply in the next three years.
What's more, the annual progress report of the Long Term Housing Strategy released in 2019 also pointed out that there are nearly 120,000 households living in poor environments with wooden huts, squatters and rooftop structures in Hong Kong, which is enough to reflect the difficulty of relying on transitional housing alone. Digest the huge housing demand.
The "Shengping School" in Ta Kwu Ling Ping Che will build transitional houses and provide 711 transitional houses.
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Transitional housing is the bottom line
Although the selection of the abandoned Ping Che school can release idle land, the site selection involved in the plan is not without controversy.
For example, the MTR once asked the Housing Association to rent out some units in the MTR dormitory "Ce Shing House" in Tai Po at a nominal fee and converted them into transitional housing.
However, according to the agreement between the two parties, the Housing Society only rented the site for five years, and it may be handed over to the MTR for use as a dormitory in the future. Therefore, when the Community Care Fund allocated 46 million yuan for rehabilitation expenses, some members questioned that public funds were used to subsidize the MTR’s property rehabilitation. .
In addition, in the past, after real estate developers announced that they had lent their land, they were questioned by the media that they were using public welfare slogans to pave the way for the development of their farmland reserves.
Therefore, even if the transitional housing can alleviate the urgent need, the government must beware of the perception of cooperation with real estate developers.
Therefore, in addition to relying on the "goodwill" of real estate developers, the government can also make good use of school buildings that have been abandoned due to the decline of school-age children.
According to statistics from the Planning Department, out of the current 234 vacant school premises, only 43 are wholly or mostly privately owned land, and the rest are government land or private land to be returned to the government. Therefore, the government will also expedite inspection and approval in the future. Reconstruction plans for vacant school premises, and consideration can be given to transforming Kwai Chung Public Schools, Yau Ma Tei James School and other nearby urban areas and communities with well-equipped facilities into transitional houses.
However, the Hong Kong Government must understand that transitional housing is only an expedient measure to cope with the housing shortage. After all, a large number of public housing needs to be built to absorb the housing demand accumulated over the years.
In the long run, the government must also break out of its old-fashioned thinking and resolve social structural contradictions.
Since transitional houses are not for permanent use, the government should also consider the future social functions of the original site as soon as possible, such as making good use of the space layout of transitional houses, water and electricity supply, etc., and transform them into nursing homes to satisfy the population. Demand brought about by aging.
Although the housing problem in Hong Kong is difficult to solve in the short term, early planning is a far-sighted policy thinking.
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Transitional Housing Pok Oi Hospital Transportation and Housing Bureau 01 Viewpoint