Transitional Social Housing is a social movement to relieve the pressure on those with urgent housing needs. It is led by non-government organizations, with the joint efforts of different funders, private companies, and NGOs/social enterprises, supported by the Government. Social Housing is mainly providing affordable housing to residents who wait for public rental housing for at least 3 years and live in indecent rental subdivided units.
There are a few sources for the provision of transitional social housing,
| 1) Using idle private housing units or government premises to be transitional housing. |
| 2)Using the “Modular Integrated Construction” method to construct transitional housing on vacant and privately-owned government lands. |
| 3) Converting vacant non-residential buildings (such as vacant school premises or industrial buildings) to transitional housing. |
| 4) Using hotels and guesthouses to become transitional social housing |
The license period of transitional social housing is subject to the lease on the license usage time of the flat or the land with the owner.
As a short and medium terms of solution for relieving living needs, transitional social housing aim to provide affordable housing to tenants who wait for public rental housing for long period or who have urgent living needs and target to develop their ability and contribute to the community by participating in social services in the tenancy period. It aims to provide a better living environment and support facilities to tenants. By participating in different social services, tenants could enhance their daily living skills to improve their quality of life and contribute to society.
As mentioned above, social service programme would be incorporated into the transitional social housing project. The operator will provide supporting services for residents, such as saving plan for individuals/families, social participation and mutual support services, employment training and support etc. To enhance the resilience of residents. The services in social housing are designed at 2 levels individual and community:
Individual: Support the tenants to learn living skills, such as increasing saving and understanding the community resources, so as to enhance their ability and confidence to cope with living challenges.
Community: Through learning about group living and building a community to develop a relationship with the neighborhood and others, improve the living quality.