$3,000 reward for public housing abuse tip-offs appropriate, says lawmaker

The Housing Authority’s reward scheme for reporting public housing abuse has served as both a deterrent and a safety net, lawmaker Scott Leung Man-kwong said, adding that the current HK$3,000 reward is appropriate and does not need to be increased.

The authority launched the Report Public Housing Abuse Award scheme last year. As of March, it had received 5,400 real-name reports, with 25 cases substantiated.

Speaking on a radio program on Thursday, Leung, also a Housing Authority member, said the fact that more than 80 percent of reports could not be followed up due to missing key information or misunderstanding did not mean residents were making malicious or false reports.

He said the real-name reporting system could help prevent abuse of the scheme, and he believed members of the public would generally not use it for retaliation.

Leung said many of the reports that could not be followed up lacked specific information, such as the estate, building or flat involved. Some residents had also misunderstood the definition of public housing abuse, mistaking daily estate management complaints, such as noise or hygiene issues, or approved household additions, as suspected abuse.

He stressed that most public housing tenants comply with the rules, while abuse cases represent only a small minority.

Leung said the scheme helps uncover hidden cases that may not be detected through declaration forms or routine inspections by Housing Department staff. Even if only more than 20 flats are recovered, he said, the scheme still helps more than 20 families move into public housing, fulfilling its purpose.

On suggestions to raise the HK$3,000 reward, Leung said the current number of reports and overall operation showed the scheme was running smoothly, and the reward level was suitable for now. He said the priority should be improving the reporting process.

Leung said staff could ask more follow-up questions and remind informants to provide accurate and essential details when receiving the reports. If a case is found to involve only general estate management issues, it could be referred to the relevant department immediately to improve efficiency.

Separately, Leung said the response to the Home Ownership Scheme 2025 and Green Form Subsidised Home Ownership Scheme 2025 was within expectations.

Applications closed on Tuesday night, with HOS 2025 receiving 99,000 applications, or about 13 times oversubscribed.

He said the figures showed subsidized sale flats remained popular among middle-class and “sandwich class” households, and suggested the government consider increasing the proportion of subsidized sale flats in public housing supply.

On concerns that more than 6,000 public housing tenants affected by redevelopment have priority in flat selection this round, Leung said past experience showed that fewer than 10 percent of redevelopment tenants eventually purchased HOS flats.

He believed the arrangement would not have a major impact on general applicants, especially family applicants. Those more likely to be affected would be “non-nuclear family applicants” or single applicants lower in the selection order.

Leung said there was no need at this stage to set a quota cap on flat selection by redevelopment tenants, as doing so could affect their opportunities for upward mobility.
 

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