Hong Kong NGOs who build transitional homes for the needy to be exempted heavy land charges, government says
- The Transport and Housing Bureau announced on Thursday it would drop ‘waiver fees’ related to differences in rental income after conversion
- Transitional homes are intended to temporarily house poorer families who are awaiting public housing
Charities hoping to build transitional homes for the underprivileged on private plots will be exempted from paying hefty land costs, the government said on Thursday.
A spokesman for the Transport and Housing Bureau said in a statement that the measure was meant to lessen the financial burden on NGOs, so as to encourage more community-initiated transitional housing projects.
Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po in February set aside HK$2 billion (US$255 million) to support NGOs in building transitional housing. The fund is said to be sufficient to provide 4,000 flats.
Any organisations that plan to use private, non-residential sites to build transitional homes usually have to pay what is called a “waiver fee” to the Lands Department for a temporary permit to use the land for housing purposes.
The cost of the fee is equivalent to the difference in annual rental value of the premises’ original use and its use as temporary homes. But if there is difficulty assessing the difference, around 10 per cent of the existing annual rental value of the building will be charged. This could result in being up to millions of dollars if the building has hundreds of flats, each with an annual rental income of HK$100,000.
