Tenants demand rent cap
RESIDENTS angry at the deterioration of their ageing Ho Man Tin Estate have demanded that rents be frozen.
They claimed yesterday the conditions of their homes at the Valley Road Estate were so poor that no rent increase could be justified.
The 31-year-old estate has been earmarked for redevelopment over the next five years and 890 of the 2,700 households will be moving out in early 1998 under the first phase of the project.
The first phase includes demolishing community facilities and shops although the remaining households will not be moved until 2000.
Tenants feared that 1,800 households not included in the first-phase project would have to tolerate the rundown conditions for at least two years before they could be resettled.
A representative said tenants lived with water seepage and collapsing concrete. It was bad planning by the Government that the shops were going to be removed. 'The nearest market is in Oi Man Estate, which is 30 minutes walk away.'
