Combating Public Housing Abuses

[RobRoy]

Assets ? What assets?


bank account ? what bank account?


GOLD. They buy gold !

Yeah my thoughts also..

[freeier]

But that's not in place today? Also quite sensitive that some admin lady in the Gov office should have access to all that data for this purpose of declining a subsidy.

well, you declare asking for subsidy.. so you sign off your rights of privacy protection.. isnt' that fair ?

[freeier]

Yeah my thoughts also..

these days, without a bank account with say boc or hsb, they actually don't sell you gold. and if you bring in too much cash to buy.. you are mark for potential ALM concerns ?

[dinosaurs88]

What do you mean they don't sell you gold without a bank account?

It's not paper gold or etf... none of this silly paper stuff.

Its physical 999 soliid gold.
All you need is cash.
Chinese people buy physical gold. It's part of our DNA.
Go to any gold shop chow tai fook etc and watch the transaction...cash...gold..
the older generation all suffered in ww2...and lost gold etc. they know , physical gold
Plus, if kids get married, or relatives get married, they need to give 999. purity gold as gifts
so they buy, and hoard.
and right now gold prices is through the roof...

[dinosaurs88]

the old folk have been buying for quite a while...a few thousand here, a few thousand there. they not stoopid. they keep under the radar

[Morrison]

What do you mean they don't sell you gold without a bank account?

It's not paper gold or etf... none of this silly paper stuff.

Its physical 999 soliid gold.
All you need is cash.
Chinese people buy physical gold. It's part of our DNA.
Go to any gold shop chow tai fook etc and watch the transaction...cash...gold..
the older generation all suffered in ww2...and lost gold etc. they know , physical gold
Plus, if kids get married, or relatives get married, they need to give 999. purity gold as gifts
so they buy, and hoard.
and right now gold prices is through the roof...

I have read some people buy dinosaur skeletons as investment.

[aw451]

But that's not in place today? Also quite sensitive that some admin lady in the Gov office should have access to all that data for this purpose of declining a subsidy.

If someone wants a handout they can choose to waive their right to absolute privacy. I'm sure there are already systems which minimise the need for sensitive information disclosure for straight-through cases.

Abuse of public housing distorts both the public and private housing market.

[hullexile]

This is troubling:



So...wait. You OWN another flat, but choose the heavily subsidized public housing? If that would not be OK for non-elderly, I don't see why it IS OK for the elderly, should not be two sets of rules.

I have known more than a few people who were renting public housing units that were being illegally sublet. Or living in a relative's flat and the relative no longer lived in HK.

While others are paying HK 4000-7000 for an unsafe, subdivided flat (oh, too hard to police those!).

And yet, plenty of time to police people's social media to check for various collusion with foreign forces or whatever.

I also have seen situations in the UK where the elderly have a very large place since their family grew up and moved out and don't want to move to a smaller unit and then complain about the "bedroom tax."

Look, these are not YOUR private flats. They are a public resource, not an income-producing asset. Live there under the terms of the occupancy or give it up to another needy person/couple/family.

The UK situation is not that straightforward. In several cities outside London there is a shortage of one or two bedroom Council houses. So there iS a waiting list to downgrade (to save money). The people who had already requested to move to a smaller place were then hit with a bedroom tax for bedrooms they did not want. These tended to be people who were already short of money hence why they were on the waiting list to move.

[MABinPengChau]

The UK situation is not that straightforward. In several cities outside London there is a shortage of one or two bedroom Council houses. So there iS a waiting list to downgrade (to save money). The people who had already requested to move to a smaller place were then hit with a bedroom tax for bedrooms they did not want. These tended to be people who were already short of money hence why they were on the waiting list to move.

Yes I think those people should not be charged but saw some UK TV programs where people were being very picky and didn't want to move and still complained.

I mean, the point of social housing is to help you out and then, hopefully, you move up the career ladder, are able to move out into free market housing, not stay an entire lifetime unless there's a disability or something.

Unless we move to a Singapore model where the government acts as a housing developer and sells its citizens the flats.

Both HK and UK have sold off public housing to tenants which I do not understand when there is such a long waiting list for others.

So what happens is some people get accommodation for life and others struggle and never get anything.

I feel like, without a disability and perhaps elderly, you get a maximum of 10 years and then go back to the end of the list if others are waiting. 10 years to make a plan, save money, etc.

Just seems like a very unfair system. Like kindergarten places when my daughter was little, so many taken by younger siblings, we had no chance...

[hullexile]

Yes I think those people should not be charged but saw some UK TV programs where people were being very picky and didn't want to move and still complained.

I mean, the point of social housing is to help you out and then, hopefully, you move up the career ladder, are able to move out into free market housing, not stay an entire lifetime unless there's a disability or something.

Unless we move to a Singapore model where the government acts as a housing developer and sells its citizens the flats.

Both HK and UK have sold off public housing to tenants which I do not understand when there is such a long waiting list for others.

So what happens is some people get accommodation for life and others struggle and never get anything.

I feel like, without a disability and perhaps elderly, you get a maximum of 10 years and then go back to the end of the list if others are waiting. 10 years to make a plan, save money, etc.

Just seems like a very unfair system. Like kindergarten places when my daughter was little, so many taken by younger siblings, we had no chance...

The idea was to provide housing to those who could not afford to buy. Maggie Thatcher hated the idea so sold them off at a discount (my parents bought their house, since sold. Now worth over a million). Now, people are forced into private rental squalor.