| |
|
|
|
Compassionate Rehousing
| * |
Service Description
Compassionate Rehousing (CR) is a form of housing assistance, which aims at providing assistance to individuals and families who have genuine and imminent housing problems which cannot be solved by themselves. Under this scheme, conditional tenancy can also be recommended to help those who are assuming custody of child(ren) and on divorce proceedings to meet their genuine housing needs while awaiting the court decision on their divorce applications. With effect from November 2001, the Housing Department (HD) has extended the Conditional Tenancy Scheme to cover victims of domestic violence having petitioned for divorce who have no offspring or have not brought along any dependent children when leaving their matrimonial home.
To address the living problem encountered by elderly property owner-occupiers (EPO) living in private dilapidated buildings, HD and SWD have agreed, with effect from June 2004, to an ex-gratia scheme to assist those eligible EPO to move into Housing for Senior Citizens (HSC) on a licence basis, as a transitional arrangement, under the CR consideration. With effect from 28.7.2005, HA modified the scheme to allow allocation of self-contained public rental flats on licence to EPOs upon their refusal of offers of HSC flats.
|
| * |
Eligibility Criteria of Compassionate Rehousing
Applicants have to satisfy the following conditions:
| 1. |
be in imminent need of long-term housing assistance; |
| 2. |
have special social or medical needs and the granting of Compassionate Rehousing could help solve their problems or relieve their hardships;
| For example: |
(a) |
Through Compassionate Rehousing, people with disabilities can be assisted in rehabilitation and re-integrating into the community. |
|
(b) |
For families which have undergone psychological traumas and changes, Compassionate Rehousing may help them rebuild their families and live a new life. | |
| 3. |
at the time of allocation, at least half of the family members included in the application must have lived in Hong Kong for seven years and are still living in Hong Kong. All children under the age of 18, (i) regardless of their place of birth, and with one of their parents having lived in Hong Kong for seven years; or (ii) with established Hong Kong birth status as permanent resident; are deemed to have fulfilled the seven-year residence rule. |
| 4. |
applicants and their family members must pass the Comprehensive Means Test (income and asset limits pitching at public rental housing waiting list level) and the Domestic Property Test (DPT) (i.e. no ownership of residential property); |
| 5. |
have the ability to pay rent (including rent allowance under the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance Scheme). |
In addition to the above basic criteria, the responsible social worker will gather in-depth information on the applicants' family background and financial condition and verify relevant information and documents before deciding on their eligibility.
|
| * |
Eligibility Criteria of Conditional Tenancy Scheme
Applicants have to satisfy the following conditions:
| 1. |
must meet the qualifying criteria for Compassionate Rehousing and socially, they must be facing undue hardship in continuing to stay in the same unit with the party with whom a divorce is being contemplated. Besides, the applicants and/or their child(ren), if any, must have genuine and imminent needs for a public housing accommodation to resolve their housing problem; |
| 2. |
a bona-fide petition for divorce has been filed to court, or grant of legal aid for divorce proceedings has been obtained; |
| 3. |
applicants have been assuming custody of the child(ren) and in the opinion of the processing unit, are considered to be the most suitable party to take care of the child(ren); and |
| 4. |
the prospective tenants must undertake that should they fail to be granted custody of the children upon the court's award of divorce decree, the tenancy should be terminated and the flat be surrendered to HD. |
| Note 1 : |
For victims of domestic violence with no offspring, the requirement to meet criteria No. 3 above may be exempted. |
| Note 2 : |
For applicants who have joint ownership of private residential property or a flat under the Home Ownership Scheme with their spouses, upon SWD’s recommendation, HD will consider granting conditional tenancy to them while waiting for court order for the disposal of their entitlement in the property. |
| Note 3 : |
After completion of the divorce proceedings and the granting of divorce decree, the applicants’ conditional tenancy could be converted to normal tenancy, if they pass the Comprehensive Means Test and satisfy the Domestic Property Test requirement as in the case of other divorced couples. The applicants must also meet other applicable special criteria including the granting of custody of their children, if any.
| |
|
|
| * |
Eligibility Criteria of Ex-gratia Scheme for the Elderly Property Owner-occupiers
Applicants have to satisfy the following conditions:
| 1. |
must meet the qualifying criteria for CR; and |
| 2. |
waiving of DPT requirement would be considered subject to the following criteria:
| (a) |
the applicant, and all family members in the application where appropriate, must be aged 60 or above; and |
| (b) |
the applicant, and his/her family members where appropriate, have owned and lived in the concerned property for 10 years or more; and |
| (c) |
the property concerned must be located in a walk-up block without lift service | | |
|
|
|
In addition to the above basic criteria, the responsible social worker will gather in-depth information on the applicants' family background and financial condition and verify relevant information and documents before deciding on their eligibility.
|
| |
|
| * |
Application Procedures
To approach the integrated family service centres / integrated services centres of the Social Welfare Department and Non-governmental Organizations (list of integrated family service centres / integrated services centres can be downloaded here).
PDF Acrobat Document MS-Word MS Word Document
|
| * |
Fees and Charges
Free of charge. | |
|
|
|
|