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Written by: customer contribution
2020-10-21 06:00
Last update date: 2020-10-21 06:00
According to statistics from the Housing Department, as of June 2020, the average waiting time for public housing applications is 5.5 years, and the cumulative number of applications is nearly 260,000.
Grassroots families who are waiting for public housing are faced with a heavy rent burden; and the poor living environment will seriously affect the family's physical and mental health and the development of children.
Starting in 2017, Lok Sin Tong, Kowloon, in response to the initiative of the Transport and Housing Bureau and the community’s demand for housing, has implemented the first Lok Sin Tang social housing project in the form of self-financing-the "Le House" project, aimed at assisting the public housing waiting list To improve the living environment and provide appropriate support to families through the "community-based" service concept.
So far, the program has benefited more than 100 families and nearly 450 people have benefited.
The subdivided housing environment of some grassroots families is very bad, with only one hundred feet of space, which seriously affects the family's physical and mental health.
Move to
"Music House"
home feeling
sleep
Ms. Huang has 3 young children. Her husband works on construction sites and is the breadwinner of the family.
A family of five originally lived in a 100-sq. ft. subdivided apartment in Mong Kok. The rent was nearly HK$7,000, which accounted for more than 30% of Mr. Wong’s income.
There is only enough space for a bunk bed in the sub-district. The children need to do homework and activities in the bed, and the husband can only sleep on the floor every night.
In addition to facing heavy financial pressure, Ms. Huang has to shoulder the responsibility of caring for her children and family, including caring for a daughter with dyslexia.
Ms. Huang said that she had tried teaching her daughter to do homework several times, but she couldn't help but lose her temper, or she started crying halfway through her teaching, so she had to calm down.
Since Ms. Huang's family moved into the "Le House" last year, she said she never thought that she could live in such a beautiful house, and they finally felt like a warm home.
The former residence of Ms. Huang's family was only large enough for a bunk bed.
In the new home of Ms. Huang's "Le House", a dining table can be set up for children to do their homework.
"Community-based"
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service
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light
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court emotional
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In addition to providing accommodation, the "Leshantang Social Housing Project" also provides "community-based" family support services, including homework tutorial classes, interest groups, and various types of parent-child activities.
Ms. Wong and her children also participated. She said participating in these activities can help relieve the emotional pressure of caring for the family.
In addition, during the epidemic, the social economy was hit hard, causing many people to underemploy or lose their jobs, which seriously affected the livelihoods of grassroots families.
In response to the needs of these families, Le Shan Tang provides a lump-sum rental allowance of HK$5,000 to each "Le House" family to subsidize low-income families living in "Le House" to pay 5 to 6 months' rent, totaling approximately HK$300,000 Nearly 300 people have benefited.
Leshantang combines affordable rents and a transitional social housing plan with social services "housing and community integration" to play an important supporting role in the epidemic.
Take our plan as an example. In addition to implementing a one-off rent allowance, we also provide a series of appropriate support immediately, including the "Leshantang Mask Bank Plan" launched in February, which distributes masks and anti-epidemic materials to residents and educates residents on the hygiene of epidemic prevention , Strengthen the cleanliness of the building, provide low-cost meal delivery services and rice grain material support.
The Lok Sin Tong Social Housing Project is located in the "Shared Service Room" and "Shared Work Room" on Fuk Lo Tsun Road, Kowloon City.
The homework tutoring class in the "shared service room" has volunteers to help children with homework to reduce the burden on parents.
"Music House"
renovation idle residential units
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"Lok House" has been launched in 2017 and has undergone different developments and evolutions. Phases 1 to 4 have adopted the "vacant residential unit renovation model", including those located at Fuk Lo Tsun Road, South Point Road, Lai Chi Kok Road, and Tugu in Kowloon City. The 88 units on Wanluoshan Road and Mongkok Freeway were occupied between 2017 and 2018.
"Le House" phases 1 to 4 provide a total of 88 units, which were occupied between 2017 and 2018.
In February 2018, Le Shan Tang received a million yuan sponsorship from Sino-Ocean Group to support the implementation of the "Social Housing Project".
LST
make good use of resources
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Hong Kong's first schoolhouse converted for the transitional social housing projects
In February 2019, Leshantang applied for a short-term waiver from the Lands Department, suggesting to rebuild the Leshantang Primary School, which was closed due to redevelopment, as a transitional social housing, and provide 51 family units with 2 to 5 people.
In July of the same year, it was supported by the Poverty Alleviation Committee and received a grant of HK$15.44 million from the Community Care Fund to subsidize the cost of the reconstruction project.
The Occupation Permit (referred to as the "Occupation Permit") was formally approved by the Buildings Department on August 26, 2020, and occupations began to be occupied at the end of September.
Le Shan Tang is also actively raising funds. Sponsored by Vice Chairman Li Shenggen, the "Le Shan Tang Social Housing Seed Fund" has been established. So far, it has raised more than HK$4.3 million to fund air-conditioners, water heaters and kitchen cabinets in every household. , Laundry room and other equipment and support services.
Transitional Social Housing-Comparison Picture of Leshantang Primary School Project: 01
Transitional Social Housing-Comparison Picture of Leshantang Primary School Project: 02
For the Transport and Housing Bureau, which is actively addressing the needs of short-term housing, Director Chen Fan (fourth from left) and Deputy Director Su Weiwen (third from left) visited Leshantang Primary School.
Leshantang assembled composite house plan and future development
In 2019, Le Shan Tang applied to the Lands Department for short-term lease of government idle land at the junction of Song Wong Tai Road and To Kwa Wan Road to build a composite house with three floors. It is expected to provide 110 units.
The project will start in mid-2020 and is expected to be occupied in mid-2021.
At the same time, Leshantang applied for the "Special Plan for Welfare Use of Private Land" to rebuild the head office and the adjacent Leshantang Primary School as a comprehensive welfare building; it also applied for the construction of transitional social housing in a "single site, multiple use" approach.
It is expected that after reconstruction, the "Leshantang Comprehensive Welfare Building" will add about 120 social housing units on three floors.
In addition, Lok Sin Tong was also leased by Wheelock Properties for HK$1 to build transitional social housing in Tai Po.
The phenomenon of economic recession caused by the epidemic will continue to emerge, and the demand for social housing will greatly increase in the future. Therefore, Leshantang will never stop and will continue to actively discuss with the government and various regional organizations to build transitional social housing in different modes. Including making good use of the idle buildings and land of the government, developers, and private individuals to help grassroots families find their "homes" so that they can overcome difficulties and at the same time allow grassroots children to grow up healthy and happy!
Conceptual drawing of the "Lok Shan Tang Assembled Housing Project" at Song Wong Toi Road and To Kwa Wan Road
Conceptual drawing of the rebuilt "Le Shan Tong Comprehensive Welfare Building"
If you want to donate to support Lok Shan Tang, Kowloon, please click the following link:
https://www.loksintong.org/donate
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