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The effect of the policy of exchanging homes for the elderly is questionable

2020-07-27T22:13:13.612Z


In order to make good use of public housing resources, the Housing Authority launched the "Experimental Scheme of Free Rent Transfer for Elderly Spacious Households" last year. It encouraged the elderly to move into smaller houses in large houses through lifelong rent relief. However, things have gone against their expectations, and many have applied for adjustments.


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Written by: Commentary Editing Room

2020-07-28 06:00

Last update date: 2020-07-28 06:00

In order to make good use of public housing resources, the Housing Authority launched the "Experimental Scheme of Free Rent Transfer for Elderly Spacious Households" last year. It encouraged the elderly to move into smaller houses in large houses through lifelong rent relief. However, contrary to expectations, many tenants who have applied for transfer refused to accept the allocation of units, reflecting the lack of incentives for the transfer of spacious households. Elderly tenants who live in the current site for a long time naturally have inertia to the relevant environment and are not easy to leave; and the elders can survive in the familiar environment, and it is not because of "good use" of housing resources. The government cannot force them to transfer. To increase the supply of large-scale public housing units, finding land to build houses is the fundamental move.

Chief Executive Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor proposed in 2018 a new policy for the transfer of elderly "spacious households". It intends to allow all households of full-length public housing with all family members over 70 years old to relocate to smaller new or refurbished flats. Excluding the larger unit of their current residence, the applicant can enjoy free lifetime rent. The Housing Authority passed relevant recommendations in the middle of last year, and formally implemented the "Elderly Spacious Households Free Rent Transfer Pilot Scheme" in December. The Housing Authority will reserve 300 units each year to cooperate with the transfer, and eligible applicants can They will be allocated a maximum of three housing allocations, and they can also receive a relocation allowance, and the units they surrender will be used for allocation on the public housing waiting list.

The Housing Authority launched a pilot scheme for rent-free transfer of elderly spacious households. (Profile picture)

However, according to data from the Housing Authority, as of the end of June this year, only about 270 applications have been approved, which is 90% of the 300 units that can be allocated for transfer each year. The Housing Department has even issued " "Allocation Notice", but only 13 cases were accepted and transferred, but 60 households refused to accept the allocated units, which accounted for two-thirds of the allocated units. It can be seen that the elderly and spacious households responded fairly to the allocation of units. cold.

It’s not difficult to understand the "fading" of the elderly

The reasons for tenants' refusal to allocate still need to be studied in detail, but the reasons for insufficient allocation incentives are not difficult to guess. The 300 units reserved by the Housing Authority have no designated area or area, which naturally adds a lot of variables. Needless to say, the tenants may feel that their allocated flats are too small and the housing estates are outdated. The applicants alone may not be allocated public housing in the same village, or even only in the district. Many elderly people have been discouraged. After all, the elders have lived in the current location for many years, have established a certain community relationship (such as neighbor relations), and are accustomed to activities in a familiar living environment. At the same time, their children have the opportunity to only live near the current location. If the elderly households cannot be transferred from the same village , The potential has a profound impact on their lifestyle, naturally reducing tenants’ interest in relocation, not to mention that applicants are not even allocated to the original district.

What's more, for many elders who are supported by their children, life-long waiver of public housing rents may be attractive, but it is not so impressive that they can teach them to give up their familiar living environment. There are applications with a trial mindset, but the actual decision is still pending on the specific unit conditions and quality. What's more, even if the Housing Authority provides a relocation allowance, it will always cost a certain amount of money and time to buy a new home. It is not difficult to understand that many elderly households will eventually "fade".

In fact, as the population ages, the younger generation gradually moves out of public housing, and the reduction in the population living in public housing is inevitable. Naturally, the situation of large households for the elderly becomes more obvious. If it is purely based on the efficiency of resource allocation, that is, how many households can be accommodated in a residential unit of a certain area, the situation of elderly spacious households is by no means the best use of public housing. However, if the function of public housing is to help residents settle down, allowing elderly households to survive in their accustomed living environment is also "good use" of public housing resources, and it is not pressing to require elderly households to vacate housing units.

The Housing Authority has said that the purpose of the plan is to give the elderly a choice of spacious households. At the same time, it helps to recover large units and allocate them again. It is true that the Housing Authority uses encouragement rather than coercion, hoping to "Tenglong for a bird". The concept is also indispensable. If there are elderly households who think that the plan is ideal and can even improve their lives, it will kill two birds with one stone. However, as mentioned above, the incentives of the plan are insufficient. If the Government and the Housing Authority hope to recover a large number of large flats from the elderly households, I am afraid it is just a matter of reason. We must always increase the supply of reliable public housing. Building land and housing is the only right way. The government should step up its pace.

Recover large units but build smaller units?

In addition, the Housing Authority’s plan to take back large public housing units has undoubtedly affirmed the importance of the supply of relevant units. However, in recent years, the Housing Authority’s public housing units have become smaller and smaller, and nano-sized units are more common. When the Housing Authority tried its best to increase the supply of large public housing units, but it kept reducing the area of ​​newly built units, the policy attitude was obviously quite contradictory. Instead of bothering to study how to retrieve flats from spacious households, the government and the Housing Authority should first correct the housing policy so that the area of ​​newly-built public housing should not shrink.

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Housing Authority Public Housing Elderly 01 View

Source: hk1

All news articles on 2020-07-27

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