Housing Society expands Tenant Policy and strengthens measures against public housing abuse

The Housing Society plans to extend the Well-off Tenant Policy to encompass all tenants in its rental estates over the next five years. Concurrently, the Housing Authority is set to criminalize serious public housing tenancy abuse through an amendment bill expected to be passed in the Legislative Council by mid-2025.

This initiative follows a recent investigation report released by the Ombudsman, which evaluated the efforts of both the Housing Society and the Housing Authority in addressing public housing resource abuse.

In a bid to encourage public involvement, the Housing Society will introduce a Report Public Housing Abuse Award in April, mirroring a similar initiative launched by the authority on January 15. 

This award aims to motivate citizens to report suspected cases of housing abuse.

To enhance its oversight, the Society established a mechanism with the Land Registry last year for proactive checks on tenants' property ownership. 

Also, it will explore establishing communication channels with the mainland and Macau governments, increase the frequency of surprise home visits, and improve training for frontline staff and security personnel to bolster the effectiveness of public housing abuse investigations.

A spokesman for the Housing Authority said the administration's commitment to exploring new measures to combat public housing abuse. 

"We are actively looking into amendments to the Housing Ordinance to criminalize severe tenancy abuse, targeting the passage of these bills in the Legislative Council by mid-2025," the spokesman said. 

"We will review the relevant recommendations in detail and continue to enhance existing measures to combat tenancy abuse, while actively seeking various new methods to ensure optimal use of public housing resources."

(Eunice Lam)