Early After The War The British Hong Kong Government's Housing Policy Research (1945-1955)

The early post-war period (1945-1955) was an important era in the history of the Hong Kong historical,development process, the stage which Hong Kong reconstructed, recovered, and was the Hong Kong transition critical crossroads in history, facing with many unprecedented severe challenges.After the Second World War, large population influxed Hong Kong, the Hong Kong population suddenly grew, residential density was extremely high, living environment was not only bad but also was an extremely heavy burden of rent for the residents, Initiated an enormous pressure on the survival of living, the shortage of housing question was serious in Hong Kong, housing was a major social problem. The seriousness of the housing problem forced the British Hong Kong Government interfered and intervened in the housing market. Before the formulation of the public housing policy, the British Hong Kong Government took contingency measures, formulated and implemented the Rent Control Ordinance and the Hotel Control Ordinance, restricted all prewar buildings rents, limited the hotel charges; supervised the repairing of dilapidated buildings and encouraged private architecture industry development, encouraged and assisted the inhabitants built in the suburbs;.returned the private houses which were taken over for use by the government; actively supported non-governmental charitable organizations to resettle refugees. Simultaneously promoted the plan of reclamation and transformation the mountains and sea, clearance the squatters or Log cabins, increased and optimized the use of land resources. Finally, with the population of the post-war settling, early squatter clearance plan fell into the sleepy bureau, the British Hong Kong Government in the postwar finance successive years was under the earnings premise, and started to consider direct intervention, in the housing supply. Shek Kip Mei fire in 1953 urged the British Hong Kong Government to intervene directly in the housing supply, rehoused squatters rendered homeless as a result of natural disasters and the victims, and the curtain opened a Hong Kong public housing policy, marched into the solution for the serious housing problem. The British Hong Kong Government also contributed to the two main forms of intervention in the housing market, controlling rental and direct involvement house construction supply, which was the British Hong Kong Government's policy of positive non-intervention special case; Housing market also contributed to the dual supply, provided by the government and property developers.The British Hong Kong Government enacted measures to actively promote the construction of public housing, benefited a large number of middle and lower classes, alleviated the problem of the post-war residence, avoided the turbulence caused by the shortage of housing, alleviated the social contradictions, helped people survive in those difficult years, promoted Hong Kong economy reforming and rising.