Singles out of luck when it comes to waiting time, says housing chief
Chief executive's election pledge to cut the time solo applicants have to wait for a public rental flat is unrealistic in light of backlog, says Pescod
Housing advisers' calls for shortening the waiting time of some single people for public housing has been dismissed as "not realistic" by the housing chief.
A suggestion to do just that was included in Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's election manifesto pledge.
At a Housing Authority meeting yesterday, director of housing Duncan Pescod said the growing waiting list meant it was ever more difficult to let 36,800 single people benefit from the present policy of assigning family applicants flats within three years of them registering for one.
"I have to be blunt," Pescod said. "There is no realistic prospect of relaxing and extending the commitment to applicants under the Quota and Points System at this time."
He was referring to the scheme introduced in 2005 that gives a lower priority to single applicants under the age of 60.
While family applicants and the elderly are guaranteed to receive an offer of a public rental unit within three and two years respectively, this group does not enjoy any pledge.
Pescod made the comment after some authority members at the last meeting urged the government to extend the three-year pledge to single people.
