Arthritis patients set to miss out as charity is hit with huge rent rise
Charity faces cutting therapy for patients in chronic pain or losing its headquarters as Housing Authority insists on market rate
Patients suffering chronic pain due to osteoarthritis face missing out on cheap therapies after a charity was hit with a rent increase of almost 50 per cent by its public-sector landlord.
The Housing Authority says the rent rise is in line with the market value of the office at Nam Shan Estate, Shek Kip Mei, used as a headquarters and training centre by the Hong Kong Arthritis & Rheumatism Foundation.
The 144 square metre site is leased on a commercial basis, but the foundation says sites offered cheaply to welfare groups are in locations inconvenient to patients suffering the often debilitating effects of arthritis.
The charity, which offers inexpensive physiotherapy for patients in chronic pain and funds its activities from donations, says the increase from HK$13,000 to HK$19,000 per month is too much; HK$6,000 would fund therapy for 160 patients, treasurer Chan Kar-lok said.
The new rent kicks in when the charity's three-year lease ends in September, leaving bosses faced with the choice of having to cut back on services or even close the centre, Chan said.
"We are hoping the Housing Authority could readjust the level of increase or consider leasing the site to us as welfare letting," Chan said.
An authority spokesman said the foundation could let premises allocated for welfare groups at a fixed HK$49 per square metre. But Chan said the locations made that impossible.