Author Archives: hksar gov

     A woman and a company were each fined $2,000 at the Kowloon City Magistrates’ Courts today (July 15) for contravening the Clubs (Safety of Premises) Ordinance.

     The courts heard that in April last year, officers from the Office of the Licensing Authority (OLA) of the Home Affairs Department conducted an inspection at a club on Sai Yeung Choi Street South in Mong Kok, which had been operating with a certificate of compliance (CoC). 
      
     OLA officers posed as customers and patronised the club for food and drinks without being asked to show their membership status or being invited to join the club as members. Condition 19 of the CoC was breached. The woman, being the manager of the club and the company, being the CoC holder of the club, were charged with contravening section 21(1) (a) and section 21(2) of the Ordinance respectively.

     A spokesman for the department reminded all CoC holders to comply with the conditions as stipulated therein. Enforcement actions will continue to be taken against illegal club operation. read more

     The Home Affairs Department will open 19 temporary night heat shelters tonight (July 15) for people in need of the service.
      
     The shelters will be open from 10.30pm until 8am tomorrow.
      
     For further information, please call the department’s hotline before midnight on 2572 8427.
      
     The 19 night heat shelters are located at:
 
Hong Kong Districts:
———————
 
Central and Western –
Sai Ying Pun Community Complex Community Hall
3/F, Sai Ying Pun Community Complex,
2 High Street, Sai Ying Pun
 
Eastern –
Causeway Bay Community Centre
3/F, 7 Fook Yum Road, Causeway Bay
 
Southern –
Lei Tung Community Hall
Lei Tung Estate, Ap Lei Chau
 
Wan Chai –
Wan Chai Activities Centre
LG/F, Wan Chai Market, 258 Queen’s Road East, Wan Chai
 
Kowloon Districts:
——————
 
Kowloon City –
Hung Hom Community Hall
1/F, Kowloon City Government Offices,
42 Bailey Street, Hung Hom
 
Kwun Tong –
Lam Tin (West) Estate Community Centre
71 Kai Tin Road, Lam Tin

Sham Shui Po –
Shek Kip Mei Community Hall
G/F, Block 42, Shek Kip Mei Estate, Sham Shui Po
 
Wong Tai Sin –
Tsz Wan Shan (South) Estate Community Centre
45 Wan Wah Street, Tsz Wan Shan
 
Yau Tsim Mong –
Henry G Leong Yaumatei Community Centre
60 Public Square Street, Yau Ma Tei
 
New Territories Districts:
————————–
 
Islands –
Tung Chung Community Hall
G/F, Tung Chung Municipal Services Building,
39 Man Tung Road, Tung Chung
 
Kwai Tsing –
Kwai Shing Community Hall
Podium, Block 6, Kwai Shing West Estate, Kwai Chung
 
North –
Cheung Wah Community Hall
Cheung Wah Estate, Fanling
 
Sai Kung –
Hang Hau Community Hall
G/F, Sai Kung Tseung Kwan O Government Complex,
38 Pui Shing Road, Hang Hau, Tseung Kwan O
 
Sha Tin –
Lung Hang Estate Community Centre
Lung Hang Estate, Sha Tin
 
Tai Po –
Tai Po Community Centre
2 Heung Sze Wui Street, Tai Po
 
Tsuen Wan –
Lei Muk Shue Community Hall
G/F, Hong Shue House, Lei Muk Shue Estate, Tsuen Wan
 
Tuen Mun –
Butterfly Bay Community Centre
Butterfly Estate (near Tip Sum House), Tuen Mun
 
Yuen Long –
Long Ping Community Hall
Long Ping Estate, Yuen Long
 
Yuen Long –
Tin Yiu Community Centre
Tin Yiu Estate, Tin Shui Wai read more

     A man was fined $9,000 at the Kowloon City Magistrates’ Courts today (July 15) for contravening the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Ordinance.
           
     The courts heard that in December last year, officers of the Office of the Licensing Authority (OLA), the Home Affairs Department, inspected a suspected unlicensed guesthouse on Shanghai Street in Mong Kok. During the inspection, the OLA officers posed as lodgers and successfully rented a room in the guesthouse on an hourly basis.
           
     According to the OLA’s records, the guesthouse did not possess a licence under the Ordinance on the day of inspection. The man responsible for managing the premises was charged with contravening section 5(1) of the Ordinance.
           
     A department spokesman stressed that operating or managing an unlicensed guesthouse is a criminal offence and can lead to a criminal record. Upon conviction, the offender is liable to a maximum fine of $200,000 and two years’ imprisonment.
                
     The spokesman appealed to anyone with information about suspected unlicensed guesthouses to report it to the OLA through the hotline (Tel: 2881 7498), by email (hadlaenq@had.gov.hk), by fax (2504 5805) using the report form downloaded from the OLA website (www.hadla.gov.hk), or through the mobile application “Hong Kong Licensed Hotels and Guesthouses”. read more

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:

     The Hong Kong Deposit Protection Board (the Board) today (July 15) published its Annual Report for 2019-2020. The Report highlights the key achievements of the Board in 2019-2020, reviews the operations of the Deposit Protection Scheme (the Scheme) during the year and outlines the Board’s plan for 2020-2021. During the year, the Board focused on maintaining high public awareness and confidence in the Scheme as well as enhancing its payout readiness and efficiency.

     The Hong Kong Deposit Protection Board’s Annual Report 2019-2020 is available on the Board’s website (www.dps.org.hk). read more

     Following is a question by the Hon KWONG Chun-yu and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Mr Frank Chan Fan, in the Legislative Council today (July 15):

Question:

     Regarding the public rental housing (PRH) and the subsidised sale housing under the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) and the Hong Kong Housing Society (HKHS), will the Government inform this Council (set out in different tables the information relating to HA and HKHS respectively in respect of (1) to (6)):
 
(1) of the following details of each of the PRH redevelopment projects that were completed in the past 10 financial years:
 
     (i)        the name of the housing estate and the number of phases by which the redevelopment project was carried out,
     (ii)       the financial year in which the project commenced,
     (iii)      the financial year in which the project was completed,
     (iv)      the number of PRH units before redevelopment,
     (v)       the gross floor area (GFA) for community facility use before redevelopment,
     (vi)      the numbers of car parking spaces for various classes of vehicles before redevelopment,
     (vii)     the GFA for commercial use before redevelopment,
     (viii)    the number of PRH units after redevelopment,
     (ix)      the GFA for community facility use after redevelopment,
     (x)       the number of car parking spaces for various classes of vehicles after redevelopment,
     (xi)      the GFA for commercial use after redevelopment,
     (xii)     whether in-situ rehousing was provided for affected PRH tenants, and
     (xiii)    the main reception estate(s) for affected PRH tenants;
 
 (2) of the following details of each of the PRH redevelopment projects that will commence in the coming five financial years:
 
     (i)        the name of the housing estate and the number of phases by which the redevelopment project will be carried out,
     (ii)       the financial year in which the project is expected to commence,
     (iii)      the financial year in which the project is expected to be completed,
     (iv)      the number of PRH units before redevelopment,
     (v)       the GFA for community facility use before redevelopment,
     (vi)      the number of car parking spaces for various classes of vehicles before redevelopment,
     (vii)     the GFA for commercial use before redevelopment,
     (viii)    the projected number of PRH units after redevelopment,
     (ix)      the projected GFA for community facility use after redevelopment, 
     (x)       the projected number of car parking spaces for various classes of vehicles after redevelopment,
     (xi)      the projected GFA for commercial use after redevelopment,
     (xii)     whether in-situ rehousing will be provided for affected PRH tenants, and
     (xiii)    the expected main reception estate(s) for affected PRH tenants;
 
(3) of (i) the respective numbers of PRH units built and cleared as well as (ii) the net increases in the number of PRH units, in each of the past 10 financial years;
 
(4) of (i) the respective numbers of PRH units expected to be built and cleared as well as (ii) the projected net increases in the number of PRH units, in each of the coming five financial years;
 
(5) given that HA’s PRH tenants affected by redevelopment projects are eligible for participating in the sale exercises for subsidised sale housing under HA (including the Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) and the Green Form Subsidised Home Ownership Scheme (GSH)) using green forms with priority in flat selection, of the following details of such tenants participating in the aforesaid sale exercises in the past 10 financial years:

     (i)        the names of the housing estates redeveloped/to be redeveloped and the numbers of phases by which the redevelopment projects were/would be carried out,
     (ii)       the respective numbers of tenants who applied for the purchase of HOS and GSH flats,
     (iii)      the respective numbers of tenants who succeeded in purchasing HOS and GSH flats, and
     (iv)      the numbers and percentages of HOS and GSH flats sold to such tenants in the respective total numbers of flats offered for sale in the relevant sale exercises;
 

 
(6) regarding HKHS’s PRH tenants affected by redevelopment projects, of the following details of those tenants participating in the sale exercises of subsidised sale housing under HKHS in the past 10 financial years:
 
     (i)        the names of the housing estates redeveloped/to be redeveloped and the numbers of phases by which the redevelopment projects were/would be carried out,
     (ii)       the number of tenants who applied for the purchase of subsidised sale housing flats,
     (iii)      the number of tenants who succeeded in purchasing subsidised sale housing flats, and
     (iv)      the numbers and percentages of subsidised sale housing flats sold to such tenants in the respective total numbers of flats offered for sale in the relevant sale exercises; and
 
(7) whether HA and HKHS will consider publishing on their websites the figures referred to in (3) and (4); if not, of the reasons for that?
 
Reply:
 
The President,

     My reply to the question raised by the Hon KWONG Chun-yu is as follows:

(1) and (2) Information on Public Rental Housing (PRH) redevelopment projects completed by the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) in the past 10 years (i.e. from 2010-11 to 2019-20) is set out in Annex I. There was no rental estate redevelopment project completed by the Hong Kong Housing Society (HKHS) in the past 10 years.

     Information on PRH/ rental estate redevelopment projects expected to be undertaken by HA and HKHS in the coming five years (i.e. from 2020-21 to 2024-25) is set out in Annex II and Annex III respectively.
 
      HA does not keep complete figures of the gross floor area (GFA) of the community and commercial facilities as well as the car parking spaces before commencement of these redevelopment projects. Since the number of development phases, site area and the use of these sites before and after redevelopment may be different, it is not suitable to directly compare the GFA and the number of car parking spaces before and after redevelopment.
 
(3) HA’s PRH production in the past 10 years is set out in Annex IV. The number of PRH units cleared in the same period was about 28 000. The reason of clearing these units was for redevelopment.
 
     HA compiles the number of PRH units on a regular basis to enable the public understand the overall PRH supply situation. The number of PRH units in the past 10 years is set out in Annex V.
 
     For HKHS, the number of rental units built and cleared in the past 10 years and the number of net increase is set out in Annex VI.
 
(4) The number of PRH units expected to be built by HA in the coming four years (i.e. from 2020-21 to 2023-24) is set out in Annex VII. These projects involve clearance of about 950 PRH units. The number of rental units expected to be built and cleared by HKHS in the coming four years and the expected net increase in rental units under HKHS is set out in Annex VIII. Most public housing projects with completion dates in 2024-25 or beyond are still at preliminary planning and design stages and are subject to change due to various factors. It is therefore difficult to provide detailed information and timetable of these projects at this stage.
 
(5) In the past 10 years, tenants of public housing estates under redevelopment were accorded green form priority in buying Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) flats and Green Form Subsidised Home Ownership Scheme (GSH) flats. The public housing estates concerned included So Uk Estate Phase 2, Tung Tau Estate Phase 8, Pak Tin Estate Phases 7 and 8, Mei Tung Estate (Mei Tung House and Mei Po House) and Pak Tin Estate Phases 12 and 13. Information of the sale exercises of HOS and GSH participated by these tenants in the past 10 years is set out in Annex IX.
 
(6) Information on rental estate redevelopment project under HKHS in the past 10 years is set out in Annex X.
 
(7) HA’s PRH production in the past 10 years is available on the following website: www.housingauthority.gov.hk/en/about-us/publications-and-statistics/actual-public-rental-housing-production/index.html.

     The number of HA’s PRH flats is also published on the following websites:
(i) Appendix 4 of HA’s Annual Report
(www.housingauthority.gov.hk/mini-site/haar1819/common/pdf/11-Appendices.pdf); and
(ii) Report on Population and Households in HA’s Public Rental Housing
(www.housingauthority.gov.hk/en/common/pdf/about-us/publications-and-statistics/PopulationReport.pdf).

     Regarding the publication of information on PRH units (including redevelopment projects) planned to be built, we will upload the updated five-year public housing production forecast onto the websites of the Transport and Housing Bureau (THB) and relevant organisations (including the HA and HKHS) on a quarterly basis for public perusal. THB also reports the five-year public housing construction programme to the Panel on Housing of the Legislative Council (LegCo) on an annual basis. The relevant documents are available on LegCo’s website. read more