Hong Kong gov’t might evict elderly tenants from subsidised flats if they do not live in them full-time
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong’s government might evict elderly public housing tenants who do not “regularly and continuously” live in their flats, as part of a drive to crack down on abuse of subsidised housing.
The crackdown is aimed partly at elderly people who retire to mainland China, where the cost of living is cheaper, but who hold onto their public housing flats in the city. Hong Kong permanent residents aged above 65 can claim pensions from the city even if they move to the mainland’s Guangdong or Fujian provinces.
The Housing Authority announced that a fresh round of mandatory reporting had started, with those who had lived in subsidised units for the elderly for 15 years required to report on their residential status. This should include whether their residency is “regular and continuous,” the authority said on Wednesday night on Facebook.
Rosanna Law, director for housing, told Commercial Radio on Thursday there were currently 120,000 such households in Hong Kong. “Regular and continuous” residency, she said, generally meant that tenants had not left the units for over three months.
Law said that if elderly people had moved out of the subsidised flats, they should surrender them to the government, but those who required frequent hospital admissions could be exempted.
Law said those who have moved to Guangdong province or Fujian province while holding on to their Hong Kong flats would be offered a transitional period.
“After the transitional period, they should surrender the public housing units if they have settled well in [mainland China],” Law said in Cantonese, adding that if they decided later to return to live in Hong Kong , they could be allocated different public housing units.
The official also said that “all-elderly households” did not need to report their assets, unlike other public housing tenants. ” Some elderly people might possess a small apartment for lease, which is a source of income, and this can be exempted, ” Law said.
With the exception of residents of accommodation for the elderly, the housing authority is requiring others to report their income, assets and residency in the new round of reporting.
5,000 units recovered
The government rolled out a series of measures starting last October to combat abuses amid a limited supply of subsidised public housing.
It targeted mainly tenants whose income or assets exceed the permitted maximum for public housing tenants, or who illegally sublet their flats.
According to the policies of the Housing Authority, public housing residents aged over 60 have since 2017 been exempt from reporting their income and assets .
In August, Law announced that the government had recovered around 5,000 flats “misused” by “rich tenants,” with 2,200 surrendered in the 2022-23 fiscal year and 2,800 in 2023-24.
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