Housing Chief Vows To Find More Land For Housing

Housing Secretary Winnie Ho said on Sunday the government will try to identify appropriate sites for transitional housing so residents could stay longer while they are waiting for a public flat.

She was speaking after visiting several subdivided flats in Sham Shui Po and listening to the residents’ views.

Some had told the minister they want the government to boost public housing supply so that they can be given a flat within three years after filing their applications and eradicate subdivided flats and cage homes.

Jimmy, an eight-year-old boy who lives in a rooftop subdivided flat with his family, told the secretary they had waited almost nine years for a public flat.

He said they were paying HK$5,000 a month for rent, but the living conditions were bad and the flat was overrun by insects.

A woman, who identified herself as 'Helen', said her family of three had been in the queue for seven years. They were living in transitional housing but had recently been told they had to leave.

"We thought living in transitional housing would be safe and hope was in sight. But after living here for a year or so the building will be demolished... We are now being thrown back to subdivided flat, it's supposed to get better but why are we going backward?" she asked.

In response, Ho said the government will work harder to find more land and speed up public housing construction.

The minister said officials would try to identify appropriate transitional housing sites so residents could stay longer.

A community organiser with the Society for Community Organisation, Sze Lai-shan, said the secretary’s response was a bit vague, but noted that she has only been in the job for around 10 days.

"She listened attentively to people's requests... She also tried to respond to people's requests for policy change," Sze said.

Sze also called on the government to revamp the public flat allocation system to make it easier for single applicants to get a flat.