Civic groups yesterday protested against the government’s housing policies, urging it to help the nation’s elderly people rent housing because they are often discriminated against.
“Many landlords are reluctant to rent their houses to elderly people, worrying that they may be involved in emergency situations more frequently. However, we must protest that even the government is very unfriendly toward older people when it comes to housing,” Federation for the Welfare of the Elderly secretary-general Wu Yu-chin (吳玉琴) told a press conference at the legislature. “In both Taipei and New Taipei City, the age requirement to qualify for a social housing unit is 20 to 45 years old, which excludes senior citizens.”
Even where there are a few senior housing estates in Taipei, the rent may not be affordable for many, Wu said.
Photo: Chou Si-yu, Taipei Times
“For example, the monthly rent for Zhulun Senior Apartments in Taipei is NT$18,000 [US$600], and if expenses for food are added, the monthly cost of living for a senior citizen can reach up to NT$22,000 a month,” Wu said. “That cost is already unaffordable for many working young people, never mind economically disadvantaged senior citizens who need to rent a senior apartment.”
Social Housing Advocacy Consortium vice president Lu Ping-yi (呂秉怡) agreed, saying that according to a survey by the Tsuei Ma Ma Foundation for Housing and Social Service, only 9 percent of property owners would rent their properties to senior citizens, and among them, only 1 percent would be willing to rent their properties to single senior citizens.
“This shows how difficult it is for elderly people to rent a house,” Lu said. “Most landlords said they would not be willing to rent properties to elderly people because they are worried that they may have some emergency, so the government could help by providing subsidies and routine visits by social workers to lessen the worries of landlords,” Lu said.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Chieh-ju (陳節如), who accompanied the groups in the press conference, urged the government to address the housing needs of senior citizens, as Taiwan is an aging society.
She also called on the government to relax qualifications for social housing and build more senior citizens’ apartments.
A 78-year-old man surnamed Sun (孫) who appeared at the press conference said he lives in a basement in Taipei which is humid and without sunlight.
“The environment is bad for my health, and I’ve been trying to find another house. However, I’ve not had any luck in half a year,” Sun said. “Many landlords just turn me down upon hearing my voice.”
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
If China chose to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would only have to sever three undersea fiber-optic cable clusters to cause a data blackout, Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a US security panel yesterday. In a Taiwan contingency, cable disruption would be one of the earliest preinvasion actions and the signal that escalation had begun, he said, adding that Taiwan’s current cable repair capabilities are insufficient. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) yesterday held a hearing on US-China Competition Under the Sea, with Hsu speaking on
RSS