Public housing in Hong Kong

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Kin Ming Estate, completed in 2003 in Tseung Kwan O, consists of 10 housing blocks of New Harmony I design, housing about 22,000 people.

Public housing in Hong Kong is a set of mass housing programmes through which the Government of Hong Kong provides affordable housing for lower-income residents. It is a major component of housing in Hong Kong, with nearly half of the population now residing in some form of public housing.[1] The public housing policy dates to 1953, when a fire in Shek Kip Mei destroyed thousands of shanty homes and prompted the government to begin constructing homes for the poor.

Public housing is mainly built by the Hong Kong Housing Authority and the Hong Kong Housing Society. Rents and prices are significantly lower than those for private housing and are heavily subsidised by the government, with revenues partially recovered from sources such as rents and charges collected from car parks and shops within or near the residences.

Public housing blocks are typically built in remote or less accessible parts of the territory, but urban expansion has left some older blocks now deep within the inner city. They are found in every district of Hong Kong except in Wan Chai District. The vast majority of projects consist of high-rise buildings, and the recent buildings usually contain 40 or more storeys.

History

Mei Ho House of Shek Kip Mei Estate during the 1956 riots.
Block 13 of Lower Ngau Tau Kok (II) Estate, built in 1969.
Shun Chi Court, an early Home Ownership Scheme housing estate built in 1980.

On 25 December 1953, a major fire in Shek Kip Mei destroyed the makeshift homes of refugees from Mainland China, leaving 53,000 people homeless. After the fire, and facing a surge of immigrant population, then governor Alexander Grantham launched a public housing program to introduce the idea of "multi story building" for the immigrant population living there, thus commencing a programme of mass public housing, providing affordable homes for those on low incomes.[2] Some scholars have argued that the government has been overstating the role of the fire in the history of public housing in Hong Kong.[3]

The Shek Kip Mei Estate, ready for occupation in 1954, was the first tangible manifestation of this policy.[2] In those early days, housing units were little more than small cubicles, and the original plan was to allocate 24 square feet (2.2 m2) per adult and half that for each child under 12.[4] However, they were in reality often occupied by more than one family, due to the extreme shortage of available housing.[5] Facilities and sanitation were rudimentary and communal. Rents were pitched at between HK$10 and 14, without caps on income. That year, the first Housing Authority was formed out of the Urban Council, through enactment of the 1954 Housing Ordinance.[6] The Shek Kip Mei estate has now been extensively redeveloped.

In 1961, the "low-cost housing" scheme was introduced through the construction of 62,380 flats (capable of housing 363,000 people with monthly household incomes of no more than HK$600) in 18 estates, whilst HA accommodation would be available to those whose household incomes were between $900 and $1500.[6]

In 1963, due to the rapid escalation of squatter numbers, squatters' eligibility for public housing was frozen, and future squatter areas came under licensing per the 1964 White Paper. The Housing Board was set up with the role of coordinating between agencies responsible for domestic housing. It made recommendations to have annual evaluations of supply and demand of housing, as well as increasing the minimum standard floor area per person to 35 sq ft (3.3 m2).[6]

Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate, built between 1967 and 1970, was among the first group of resettlement estates built with elevators. All blocks were 16-floor high, and elevators from the ground floor could reach the 8th and the 13th floors.[7]

In 1973, the Colonial Government of Hong Kong announced a ten-year plan for the public provision of housing, to provide everyone in Hong Kong with permanent, self-contained housing with a target of housing. The objective was to provide 1.8 million people with "satisfactory accommodation".[6] The Government saw as its responsibility to provide accessible housing for "the poor" - defined as those whose monthly household income was between HK$2,100 (for a family of 3) and HK$3,150 (for a family of 10).[8]

In 1975, the Government officially opened the Oi Man Estate, a housing estate built on a concept of "a little town within a city". The estate of 6,200 flats, constructed on a site of 21 acres, and capable of housing 46,000 people would have a self-contained environment complete with commercial amenities ranging from markets and barber shops to banks. This represented an innovation in that the commercial premises would serve the local estate, whilst paying a rent determined by public tender. Banks, restaurants, and other large premises would be let out on a 5 year contract, competing on a monthly rental offered, whilst tenants for smaller premises would compete on premium paid based on fixed monthly rentals. Unlike the generations of housing estates which preceded it, there would be designated market stalls and cooked-food stalls. Street vendors would be no longer be tolerated.[9]

In 1980, the government launched the first batch of public housing in the Home Ownership Scheme, thereby allowing low-income families to own their homes for the first time.

A new town to be constructed on 240 hectares of reclaimed fishponds and wetland was conceived in 1987 to house 140,000 people. Since Tin Shui Wai was entirely a virgin development, it was conceived with wider walkways and larger open areas when compared to other urban developments in Hong Kong.[10]

Types

Public housing units in Hong Kong may be rented or sold under various government subsidy programmes, and are generally subject to different restrictions and eligibility requirements. They also vary in scale, and are built and managed under the responsibility of the Hong Kong Housing Authority and the Hong Kong Housing Society. According to the 2006 census,[1] 3.3 million people or 48.8 percent of the population of Hong Kong lived in rental or subsidized-sale public housing: 31 percent lived in public rental housing, 17.1 percent lived in Housing Authority subsidized sale flats and 0.7 percent lived in Housing Society subsidized sale flats.

Kwai Chun Court, a Home Ownership Scheme housing estate in Kwai Chung.
  • Public Rental Housing estates are permenent public housing estates that are rented at discounted rates to low-income qualifying residents. They may may be managed by either the Hong Kong Housing Authority or the Hong Kong Housing Society. Low-income eligibility criteria for public rental and subsidized-sale flats vary between families, the elderly and individual applicants.
  • Home Ownership Scheme estates are subsidized-sale public housing estates, usually built adjacent to or within Public Rental Housing and nearly identical in construction. They are managed by the Hong Kong Housing Authority and are earmarked for sale to low-income qualifiers at prices which are heavily discounted from market value, and the land value is similarly subsidized. The mortgage and resale of these units in the second-hand market are likewise restricted to qualified low-income residents. Within a public housing estate development, some blocks may be designated by the Authority exclusively for rental while others may be earmarked for sale under the Home Ownership Scheme.
  • Tenants Purchase Scheme allows existing tenants in the rented public housing estates under the Hong Kong Housing Authority to purchase their flats. As in the Home Ownership Scheme, the sale prices are set much lower than the market prices of private flats due to subsidies and restriction on selling. The Flat-for-Sale Scheme was managed by Hong Kong Housing Society in a similar manner as the Tenants Purchase Scheme and the Home Ownership Scheme, making flats available for sale at concessionary prices.
Tivoli Garden, a Sandwich Class Housing Scheme estate built in 1996.
  • Sandwich Class Housing Scheme estates were built for sale to lower-middle and middle-income residents, known as the sandwich class, who did not qualify for low-income public housing in the Home Ownership Scheme but still had trouble affording private housing. Managed by the Hong Kong Housing Society, the quality and market positioning of Sandwich Class Housing were significantly higher than public housing estates and comparable to some middle-class private developments. These units were sold at levels that were slightly below market value and came with a five-year resale restriction. Construction of Sandwich Class Housing Scheme estates ended in 2000 due to changes in the housing market.
  • Interim Housing is temporary public rental housing for those who are awaiting placement into public housing estates or are not immediately eligible for flats in public housing estates. Interim Housing often accommodates residents who have been displaced by disaster, fire, redevelopment or other reasons. Some of the housing reuse old blocks in public housing estates while others use pre-fabricated building components.

Designs

Po Tat Estate, a Public Rental Housing estate based on the New Cruciform design.

Several designs have been used for the blocks of the public housing projects, including:

  • Old Slab, New Slab
  • Single H (1980s), Double H, Triple H
  • Single Tower, Twin Tower (1970s)
  • Single I, Double I, Triple I
  • Harmony 1, 1A, 2, 3, New Harmony 1
  • Linear 1, 3, L, B
  • Trident 1, 2, 3, 4
  • Mark III, IV, V, VI
  • Cruciform, New Cruciform
  • Concord
  • Ziggurat
  • Rural Housing
  • Non Standard
  • Converted Block

Notable projects

Sai Wan Estate, built in 1958, is of the Old Slab design.
See also: List of public housing estates in Hong Kong and List of Home Ownership Scheme Courts in Hong Kong

The following is a list of selected public housing projects and their specificities:

  • Shek Kip Mei Estate was the first public housing estate in Hong Kong. All the blocks from the 1950s have been demolished, except Block 41 Mei Ho House, the last remaining example of the "Mark II" building in a single-block configuration. Block 41 has been graded as "Grade I historic building".[11]
  • Model Housing Estate is the oldest existing public housing estate in Hong Kong, with blocks built in 1954 still in use.[12]
  • Sai Wan Estate, built in 1958, is the only public housing estate in Central and Western District developed by the Hong Kong Housing Authority.
  • Ming Wah Dai Ha, built between 1962 and 1978, is the oldest existing public housing estate developed by the Hong Kong Housing Society.
  • Lower Ngau Tau Kok (II) Estate, completed in 1967 and scheduled for demolition in 2009. Its upcoming disappearance has attracted many visitors, to the point that tenants have complained about the nuisance.[13]
  • Sha Tau Kok Chuen consists of 51 blocks completed between 1988 and 1991. It is the public housing estate with most number of blocks in Hong Kong.[14][15]
  • Tivoli Garden, completed in 1996, was the first development under the Sandwich Class Housing Scheme.[16]
  • Kwai Chung Estate, redeveloped between 1997 and 2008, it is the largest public housing estate in Hong Kong. It comprises 13,700 apartments in 16 blocks, and houses over 36,000 people.[17]

Several public housing projects have received awards from the Hong Kong Institute of Architects:[18]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Public housing in Hong Kong.

References

  1. ^ a b Census and Statistics Department - Population by type of housing
  2. ^ a b Choi, Barry (30 June 1975). "Housing means more than a roof" (PDF). South China Morning Post. Retrieved 7 February 2007. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  3. ^ Smart, Alan (2006). The Shek Kip Mei Myth: Squatters, Fires and Colonial Rule in Hong Kong, 1950-1963. Hong Kong University Press. ISBN 9622097928. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  4. ^ Choi, Barry (14 October 1978). "Focus on small flats" (PDF). South China Morning Post. Retrieved 7 February 2007.
  5. ^ Choi, Barry (13 August 1973). "Vital task is to satisfy slum dwellers who see luxury on doorstep" (PDF). South China Morning Post. Retrieved 7 February 2007.
  6. ^ a b c d Hung, Edward (26 June 1977). "'New' Housing Authority in for bigger responsibility" (PDF). The Standard. Retrieved 27 April 2007.
  7. ^ Hong Kong Housing Authority - Historical Background of Lower Ngau Tau Kok (II) Estate
  8. ^ Lee, Mary (7 March 1980). "A disorderly house policy" (PDF). Far Eastern Economic Review. Retrieved 29 January 2007.
  9. ^ Sung, C. D. (20 November 1975). "A showpiece of public housing in Hong Kong" (PDF). South China Morning Post. Retrieved 27 April 2007.
  10. ^ Maureen Fan (27 October 1987). $820m new town deal will give homes to 140,000, South China Morning Post
  11. ^ List of Graded Historic Buildings in Hong Kong (as at 7 Nov 2008)
  12. ^ Aged public housing estates included in the Comprehensive Structural Investigation Programme
  13. ^ South China Morning Post: "Warning on Ngau Tau Kok nostalgia visits", 9 April 2009. Reproduced here
  14. ^ Sha Tau Kok Chuen
  15. ^ Housing Society Continues to Freeze Rents for Another Year
  16. ^ Hong Kong Housing Society - 1995 - Tivoli Garden
  17. ^ Hong Kong Housing Authority - Kwai Chung Estate
  18. ^ List of Past HKIA Annual Awards
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