As at the end of June 2023, the average waiting time for general applicants rehoused to PRH in the past 12 months was 5.3 years, among which the average waiting time for elderly one-person applicants was 3.9 years. In the first quarter of 2023, about 2 300 general applications were rehoused, of which about 510 were elderly one-person applications.
Ah Shing is 58 years old and lives alone in a rented sub-divided unit. The living environment of the sub-divided unit is very cramped and the rent is very expensive, at $4,500 per month. He hopes to apply for public housing in order to improve his living environment.
"I work as a cleaner at home. 2 years ago I divorced my wife and I am a single person living alone in a sub-divided unit which is only 60 square feet in size and I have to pay $4,500 per month for rent in a very cramped environment. I have to pay $4,500 a month for rent. It is a big financial burden and I have to run around every day to make ends meet.
I really want to apply for government public housing, but I heard that the waiting time is very long and I have to fulfill a lot of requirements. I don't know if I am eligible, but I just hope that one day I can have a stable and comfortable home.
One day, I came across the Facebook page of Shun Yu Academy on the Internet, which introduced three priority housing schemes launched by the Housing Department, namely the Single Elderly Persons Priority Scheme, the Elderly Persons Priority Scheme and the Harmonious Families Priority Scheme. These schemes are designed to meet the needs of the elderly in applying for public rental housing (PRH), so that they can move into PRH as soon as possible.
I found the scheme very useful, so I contacted the staff of Sunyu Academy and asked them about the application details. They kindly answered my questions and suggested me to apply for the Single Elderly Persons Priority Scheme according to my situation. The eligibility criteria of this scheme are:
🔹 Applicants have to meet the basic eligibility criteria for PRH
🔹 Applicant must be aged 58 or above and 60 at the time of flat allocation
They told me that the program was suitable for me to apply, so I filled out the application form and submitted it to the Housing Department together with the relevant asset and income proofs.
I am very grateful to Sunyu Academy for introducing me to them, and after waiting for some time, I finally received a notification from the Housing Department that I have been allocated a one-person public housing unit.
According to the information provided by the HD, when a non-elderly one-person application reaches the age of 60, the application is no longer an application under the Points Scoring System and will be automatically converted to an application under the "Single Elderly Persons" Priority Scheme, which will continue to be processed on the original date of registration without further notice.
In addition, if an applicant under the Single Elderly Persons Priority Scheme can request to add family members to his/her family application under the relevant priority housing scheme, he/she does not need to re-register and will continue to use his/her old application number. Half of the applicant's original waiting time as single person will be counted towards his/her family application, subject to a maximum of three years. After adjusting the waiting time, the application will be assigned a registration date equivalent to that of a normal application (i.e. the corresponding registration date).
If you or your elderly friends have any problems in life, please contact us, we are happy to serve as a support for the elderly. for details of the 3 priority housing schemes for the elderly, please click the link below:
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