HK mulls tighter rules to weed out wealthy public housing tenants

Hong Kong’s Housing Authority is mulling tighter rules to weed out wealthy tenants in public housing, including raising an age threshold for those who were exempted from declaring their income and assets from 60 to 65.

Speaking on a radio program Monday morning, Cleresa Wong Pie-yue, chairwoman of the Housing Authority's subsidized homes committee, said it is widely accepted in Hong Kong that people aged 60 are not very old and have not lost their ability to work.

She said the SAR government should review its "Well-off Tenants Policies" to safeguard the rational allocation of public housing resources, including raising an age threshold from 60 to 65 in order for the tenants to get exemptions from income and asset tests.

In view of the city's aging population, Wong said should the age threshold continue to be set at 60, it will greatly impact the turnover rate of public rental housing.

She said the tenants will be required to move out from the public housing flats should their income and assets exceed the limit, which is a fair move given Hong Kong’s limited public housing resources.