Hong Kong's population continues to age, and a new "Data Insight" by the Legislative Council shows that the proportion of elderly households in public housing has increased to more than 20%, which is equivalent to at least one out of every five households being an elderly household.
In addition, for every 10 applications on the waiting list for public housing, at least one application belongs to an elderly person. How long will the waiting time be?
What support measures does the HA provide to elderly tenants in PRH?
The document states that from 2011 to 2021, the number of public housing households under the Housing Authority’s control will increase from 687,000 to 786,000, an increase of 14.4%.
Currently, the Housing Authority defines elderly households as those with all members aged 60 or above. Their proportion in the total PRH households rose from 17% to 22% over the same period, reflecting the ageing population of Hong Kong.
The high prices of private residential properties have made it unaffordable for the public. The demand for public housing has increased significantly in recent years. The number of general public housing applications has soared by 72% from about 89,000 in 2011 to 153,000 in 2021.
Among them, the proportion of elderly one-person applications increased from 6.8% in 2011 to 13.0% in 2021, nearly doubling proportionally, which means that for every 10 applications, at least one application is an elderly one-person application.
The document reminds that other general applications may also include applications from all-elderly domestic households, but the HA has no relevant information.
The waiting time for elderly one-person applicants is shorter than that for general applications. In mid-2021, the average waiting time for general applications is about 5.8 years, and the average waiting time for elderly one-person applications is 3.7 years.
The data also shows that the average waiting time for elderly one-person applicants has increased by 2.4 times in the past 10 years, which is greater than the 1.6 times increase in the overall average applicant over the same period.
In terms of support measures for elderly tenants in public housing, about 16,000 elderly households will be beneficiary under the Housing Authority’s Rent Assistance Scheme in 2021, accounting for more than 60% of all beneficiary households.
In addition, the HA has also launched the Family Fun Scheme for existing elderly tenants. Elderly tenants can apply for relocation to their children’s current residence or a nearby estate, to add adult children and their family members to the household registration, or to combine household registration with young family members. By 2021, a total of about 36,000 households will be benefited. Among them, the adding household plan is the most popular, involving 88% of the beneficiary households.
