Housing Authority proposes one-year imprisonment, $500k fines for housing abuse

The Housing Authority (HA) proposed criminalizing serious public rental housing abuse with a maximum penalty of HK$500,000 and one year imprisonment.

According to the proposed law amendment, serious abuse includes subletting public housing units for financial gain, or tenants utilizing the units for commercial activities without residing in them.

Sources added that people facilitating the subletting, such as housing agents and sub-tenants, would also be liable for the crime, while it would not be an offense to allow relatives to stay temporarily without charging a fee.

Other proposed amendments also include empowering authorized officers to inspect tenants' data for suspected abuse, and extending the prosecution period of false statements and refusal to supply information from two years within the commission of the offense or six months after the discovery to six years and one year, respectively.

Chairman of the Committee Cleresa Wong Pie-yue said the committee also passed the suggestion of allocating an extra ballot number for Hongkongers aged under 40 with White Form status for the purchase of Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) flats and add another 1,500 quota slots dedicated to "white form" family and one-person applicants aged below 40 in the second-hand subsidized housing market.

While the young applicants must be the owner and cannot transfer the ownership after purchasing the unit except for special reasons such as permanent departure from Hong Kong or divorce.

They are also prohibited from adding additional owners and family members except for marriage or childbirth.

Wong said that action could be taken under the lease to terminate the tenancy if the tenant breached other contractual requirements.

“As tenants will have a criminal record once they are convicted, we are reluctant to hastily include a wide range of abuses.”

The Housing Authority will consult the Legislative Council's housing panel next month with a view to submitting the amendments to the Council within the second quarter of this year, with the aim of implementing them in the middle of next year.

Sources added that the amendments would not have retrospective effect and called on tenants involved in relevant behaviors to surrender their flats as soon as possible before the legislation is enacted to avoid breaking the law.

“The proposed amendments are still under discussion. The HA will keep an open mind and actively listen to views before finalizing the details,” she said.

Lawmaker Scott Leung Man-kwong welcomed the Housing Authority’s proposed amendment, however, he said the proposal did not list out specific behaviors that constitutes public rental housing abuse.

“I am worried that it will cause misunderstanding among some residents, which will encourage more tip-offs, causing pressure on housing estate management,” Leung said.

He therefore called on authorities to set up administrative guidelines for frontline officers, and let them refer cases to management while facing complicated cases.

“The Housing Society also manages over 30,000 public rental housing flats, I think they should follow suit. I would like to call on the government to discuss with the Housing Society on how to step up its fight against abuse and look into the feasibility of extending the Housing Ordinance to also regulate public rental housing flats managed by the Housing Society,” he added.

(Stacy Shi)