Award system for reporting housing abuse set for launch

Henry Siu

A cash reward system for reporting public rental housing abuse will be launched on Wednesday after the Housing Authority endorsed its implementation yesterday.

The reward - a maximum of HK$3,000 - will be offered together with a certificate of appreciation from the HA.

People aged 16 or above who provide genuine and concrete information that leads to the authority's successful issuance of a notice-to-quit to households abusing public flats may earn the reward, it said.

But civil servants, term or contract staff employed directly by the Housing Authority or Housing Department and personnel employed through a consultant company to execute duties of the HA or the HD are not allowed to participate.

Those who are interested may report tenancy abuse cases through report aerograms, online forms on the HA or the HD's website, relevant hotlines and e-mails, or inform the estate offices.

For cases reported before the award launched, if they are found to be substantiated, leading to the issuance of a notice-to-quit, the informant will be contacted to confirm whether they would join the scheme.

The authority also said reporting cases for receiving rewards will be reviewed by an assessment panel to prevent misuse. The panel will be chaired by a directorate officer who will make the final decision.

The HA said the identity of informants will be kept strictly confidential.

"Since the HA implemented new measures to enhance combating tenancy abuse, cases that are relatively easy to detect have been discovered. To identify remaining hidden cases, more investigative clues from the public are needed," an HA spokesman said.

"To this end, the HA will launch the award scheme to encourage the public to report tenancy abuse cases, thereby safeguarding the rational use of public rental housing resources."

According to the HA's subsidized housing committee, 1,300 real-name reports that could be followed up were received last year. It is expected the number will double to some 2,600 cases after the reward mechanism is implemented.

The authority estimated that 1,300 cases will be successfully reported annually, leading to an annual reward of about HK$3.9 million.

A newly built public rental unit, it added, has a construction cost of about HK$1 million.

henry.siu@singtaonewscorp.com