The Social Welfare Bureau (IAS) said yesterday that as of 5 p.m. 82 flats in the government’s high-rise rental residential building for senior citizens on Plot P in Areia Preta district were chosen by successful applicants yesterday, the first day of the programme’s flat-selecting process.
The bureau also said yesterday that successful applicants can expect to move into their flats starting this October at the earliest.
According to an IAS statement yesterday evening, 29 of the 82 flats were chosen by individual applicants, i.e., seniors who have applied to live in a flat alone, while the other 53 flats were chosen by seniors who have jointly applied with another eligible senior to share a flat.
Consequently, the 82 flats will be rented by 135 seniors in total.
Each flat of the Plot P seniors’ rental residential building can be rented by a senior, or jointly by two seniors sharing the unit.
According to yesterday’s statement, 63 of the 82 flats were chosen by the applicants online, while the other 19 flats were chosen by seniors who visited the programme’s various service points to complete their flat-selecting formalities.
The building has a total of 1,815 studio-style units.
The housing estate, the first of its kind in the government’s housing programme, aims to help senior citizens living in low-rise walk-ups improve their living quality.
The programme’s first-phase application period ran between November 6 and December 31 last year, during which around 1,500 applications were submitted.
The bureau’s assessments of the rental flats’ applications are carried out based on a points-based system, according to which those living in low-rise walk-ups, those living alone, and those having held a local ID card for a longer time than others obtain a higher score.
The first-phase application round initially covered 759 flats, meaning that only the first 759 applicants obtaining the highest scores were initially slated to enjoy a 20-percent discount on their rent during their first three-year lease.
The government announced in April that it had decided to increase the number of first-phase flats from 759 to around 1,500, with the aim of enabling all successful applicants who submitted their applications during the first-phase application period to enjoy a 20-percent discount on their rent during their first three-year lease.
The government announced in early May that the 20-percent discount on rents now covers 1,518 flats.
Starting yesterday, the bureau is now arranging for successful applicants to choose their flats in order based on the scores they have obtained, i.e., those with the highest scores will choose their flats first.
The bureau has said that it will arrange for those renting the first 759 flats to move into their flats in the fourth quarter of this year, while it will arrange for those renting the other 759 flats newly covered by the 20-percent rent discount to move into their flats next year.
Tenants to move into flats from October
IAS President Wilson Hon Wai yesterday morning visited the programme’s exhibition hall, which is also one of the programme’s service points, where he told reporters that the government now expects those renting the first 759 flats to be able to move into their flats from October, while those renting the other 759 flats newly covered by the 20-percent rent discount can only expect to move into their flats in the first quarter of next year.
With the 20-percent discount, the rent will range between 4,328 patacas and 5,344 patacas a month.
The programme’s exhibition hall, located on the third floor of the Mong Tak social housing estate in Mong Ha district, includes show flats for the Plot P seniors’ rental residential building.
The building’s 1,815 studio-style flats will be fully furnished and decorated. After the construction of the building was completed early this year, the flats and the housing estate’s podium facilities are now being decorated.
Podium facilities
Hon also underlined yesterday that the government expects the decoration of most of the podium facilities, including the clubhouse, to be completed before the first group of tenants are slated to move into their flats in October.
Hon noted that the podium’s first floor will be used for dining facilities comprising a Chinese restaurant, a “cha chaan teng” (traditional Hong Kong and Macau-style café), and a buffet area. He said that the “cha chaan teng” can open in October, while the Chinese restaurant and buffet can only open some time afterwards.
This undated handout downloaded from the Social Welfare Bureau’s (IAS) website yesterday shows a show flat, with a double bed, for the Plot P seniors’ rental residential building.
Senior citizens choose their flats of the government’s high-rise rental residential building on Plot P, at service counters in the programme’s exhibition hall on the third floor of the Mong Tak social housing estate yesterday. – Photo: IAS
This handout photo taken last month and downloaded from the IAS website yesterday shows the view from a flat on the building’s 37th floor.
