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LettersHow temporary housing can transfer billions from rich to poor
- Readers discuss the value of the light public housing scheme, the complaints against it, and why the city must not rush to increase gambling taxes
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Recently, the Housing Department has been heavily criticised for the building cost of temporary flats under the light public housing scheme. The major criticism is that the government is squandering public funds on buildings that will be demolished in a few years’ time.
However, from another perspective, this approach just transfers money from the wealthy to the government and the people most in need.
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A government report estimated that the median rent paid by subdivided flat tenants in 2021 was HK$5,000. As this study was carried out two years ago, and two to three years are required for construction of the light housing flats, it can be assumed that by the time the tenants can move in, the median rent will have increased by 30-40 per cent.
For a 40 per cent increase, the median rent would become around HK$80,000 a year. For 30,000 tenants, the total savings in five years would amount to HK$10 billion.
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Without the light housing flats, the rent thus paid would go to wealthy flat owners and developers that require the least government support. On the other hand, the money saved by the low-income tenants can tremendously improve their living standard and can save a lot of the government money spent on healthcare, education and social services.
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