Residents can move in in Q4 2024
The government has announced that applications to rent a flat in its ongoing high-rise rental housing project for senior citizens, which is being built in an area of Plot P in Areia Preta district, will start on November 6, after which successful applicants can expect to move into the flats in the fourth quarter of next year.
In general, according to the announcement, permanent local residents aged 65 or over who are able to take care of themselves will be eligible to apply for a flat there.
Secretary for Administration and Justice André Cheong Weng Chon and Social Welfare Bureau (IAS) President Wilson Hon Wai made the announcement during a press conference at Government Headquarters on Friday.
1,815 studio flats
The construction of the housing estate comprising two hotel-style apartment towers on a podium, which got off the ground in late 2020, is now scheduled to be completed in January next year.
The two buildings consisting exclusively of rental flats for seniors, the first of its kind in the government’s housing programme, will have a total of 1,815 studio flats. Clubhouse facilities, shops and other community facilities will be set up on the podium levels of the rental housing towers.
Cheong, who is also the spokesman for the government’s top advisory Executive Council, said that the government has finished drafting a by-law regulating the application, use, operation and management of its rental housing programme for senior citizens. Government-drafted by-laws, officially known as administrative regulations, do not require the legislature’s approval.
The administration regulation on the new housing programme will take effect on November 6.
The rental housing project for seniors on Plot P was first proposed by Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng in early 2020, when he said that the project aimed to help senior citizens living in low-rise walk-ups improve their living quality.
Cheong noted on Friday that the government’s new housing programme aims to help senior citizens, particularly those currently living in walk-ups improve their living quality.
Eligibility
According to Cheong and Hon, the rental of a flat can be applied by a senior or jointly by two seniors. Individual applicants must be permanent local residents aged 65 or over who are able to take care of themselves without the assistance of others.
If two seniors jointly apply to rent a flat, according to Cheong and Hon, at least one of them must meet the same requirements as an individual applicant, in which case the other must be a permanent or non-permanent local resident aged 60 or over also capable of taking care of himself or herself.
The administration regulation will not have any limitation on the relationship between the two seniors jointly applying for a flat, meaning that they can be spouses, relatives or friends, according to the press conference.
In certain circumstances, however, seniors incapable of taking care of themselves can also submit an application to rent a flat.
Hon said that if one of the two seniors intending to jointly apply for a flat has difficulty in taking care of himself or herself, they can also submit an application as long as the respective senior citizen will be looked after by his or her flatmate or by a caregiver such as a domestic helper.
Similarly, if both of them have difficulties, they can also submit an application as long as they will be looked after by a caregiver in the flat.
According to Hon, an individual applicant who has difficulty in taking care of himself or herself can also submit an application as long as he or she will be looked after by a caregiver such as a domestic helper in the flat.
Hon said that a lease will be valid for three years, adding that a three-year lease will be “automatically” renewed upon mutual agreement every time.
According to Hon, the caregivers will be allowed to stay in the respective senior citizens’ flats, in which case they can sleep on a sofa bed with which each flat is equipped. However, Hon underlined that despite being allowed to stay, the respective caregivers are, formally speaking, not tenants because of which they do not have any of the respective rights and obligations such as agreement on lease renewals.
Points-based system
Cheong said that the assessments of the programme’s applications will be carried out by the Social Welfare Bureau based on a points-based system, according to which, applicants will be ranked on a list according to scores calculated based on various factors and variables. The official criteria for score calculations will be determined by the secretary for social affairs and culture through an executive order, which will be announced in due course, Cheong said.
According to Cheong, the various factors and variables to be used for score calculations will include the applicants’ current living conditions, the length of time they have held a local ID card, and the length of time they have been living in Macau.
Cheong said that if the number of eligible applications exceeds the number of flats available, those who have not been allocated a flat will be placed on a waiting list.
Eligible seniors can submit their applications online or in person.
Hon noted that while the government’s rental housing programme for senior citizens aims to primarily benefit seniors currently living in low-rise walk-ups, this will not be a requirement for applications listed by the programme’s administration regulation. However, Hon said that with the aim of fulfilling the programme’s “original intention” to primarily benefit seniors living in low-rise walk-ups, seniors in this group or living alone will get a higher score in the applications’ assessments.
Hon also said that according to official data, there are around 25,000 seniors currently living in low-rise walk-ups.
The studio flats will be fully decorated and equipped with furniture and major household appliances. In addition, the hotel-style flats will feature various devices for keeping seniors safe.
Schedules, rental price
Hon said that applications to rent a flat will start on November 6 when the programme’s administration regulation takes effect. The government now expects to complete its assessments of applications in the second quarter of next year and the decoration and setting-up of equipment in the flats in the subsequent quarter. Consequently, Hon said, successful applicants can expect to move into the flats in the fourth quarter of next year.
According to the administration regulation, Hon said, the government’s rental housing flats for seniors will be managed by his bureau. However, Hon said that the government will hire a property management company to operate and manage the housing estate’s various community facilities. The property management service will include 24/7 emergency support for seniors living there.
Cheong said that the government will set the rental price of the flats in reference to the market price of private residential buildings in the same neighbourhood, depending on the respective flats’ direction and the floors on which they are located. Details on the criteria for determining the rental prices will be revealed by the secretary for social affairs and culture through an executive order.
Social Welfare Bureau (IAS) President Wilson Hon Wai addresses Friday’s press conference at Government Headquarters. – Photo courtesy of TDM
This file photo released by the Social Welfare Bureau (IAS) last year depicts a show flat for the rental housing estate for seniors on Plot P.
