Proposal to increase income and asset limits is criticised as being too modest
Housing Authority chiefs are considering raising the income and asset ceilings for public housing tenants to make more households eligible for government-subsidised flats.
But the proposal, which would allow an additional 2,700 families to apply, was criticised yesterday by one authority member as too modest. The proposed increase would follow cuts which have reduced income limits by 35 per cent, said Wong Kwan.
Releasing the results of a brainstorming session yesterday, the authority said it was proposing to raise family income limits by between $200 and $300 because of inflation and rising private-sector rents.
The income limit is calculated as the sum of housing and other expenses plus 5 per cent of total income. Under this formula, the maximum monthly income a family of two in public housing would be allowed to earn would rise from $10,000 to $10,200. A family of four would be allowed to earn $14,300 a month, up from $14,000.
Asset limits would also be relaxed, meaning a family of four would be allowed assets of $360,000, an increase of $10,000.
To allow more families with elderly members to apply for public housing, the asset limit for a family of two, at least one of whom is elderly, would go up from $230,000 to $350,000 and that for a family of three by $50,000, to $350,000.