• 11/10/2024

Gov’t-proposed 10% increase in public housing rent is ‘affordable,’ Hong Kong housing chief says

Hong Kong Free Press

Hong Kong’s housing chief has said that the government’s proposed 10 per cent increase in public housing rental is “affordable” to families.

oi man estate ho man tin public housing estate
Oi Man Estate in Ho Man Tin. Photo: Hillary Leung/HKFP.

Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho told RTHK on Tuesday morning that the rent hike, which will begin in January for most tenants, will take place alongside the government’s rent assistance measures.

The Housing Bureau has submitted its proposal for the 10 per cent rent hike to the Legislative Council’s Panel on Housing. Lawmakers are set to discuss the adjustment at a meeting on Monday.

The proposed rent hikes range between HK$49 and HK$572 every month, with an average increase of HK$230, according to Housing Bureau.

Assistance and waivers

Though some residents complained that the increase was unjustified, Ho said most residents would be able to afford the new prices, adding that the government had policies in place for low-income families.

See also: Hong Kong gov’t receives 12,000 reports of public housing abuses in 8 months amid crackdown on ‘rich tenants’

Excluding some 101,000 households receiving government welfare under the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance scheme, whose rent is paid by the government, more than 60 per cent of households will see rent increases under HK$250.

“I believe this increase is affordable,” Ho said in Cantonese.

Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho meets the press on October 26, 2023. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho meets the press on October 26, 2023. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

The government will also introduce a one-off measure to waive rent hikes for three months, pushing the starting month of the increase from October to January. The waiver will cost the government HK$575 million, the Housing Bureau wrote.

“Well-off tenants” – those whose income and asset value exceeded certain thresholds, and who pay up to double for rent – would be excluded from the waiver arrangement. But only some 4 per cent of residents are well-off tenants, according to Housing Authority data.

Tenants with financial difficulties, including elderly households, can apply for rent assistance and have their rent reduced by either 50 per cent or 25 per cent.

Asked why there would be no measures to waive rents outright, Ho said a one-month rent waiver would cost the government some HK$2.1 billion.

Underestimations

Authorities review the city’s public housing rent every two years using a formula that takes into account household income. Per the formula, the increase was meant to be 10.73 per cent, but rent hikes are capped at 10 per cent under the city’s housing laws, Ho said.

Public Housing
A public housing estate in Hong Kong. File photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

Lawmaker Scott Leung said in the same radio show on Tuesday that simply calculating the rent hike in relation to household income could overestimate tenants’ financial ability.

While household income may have increased as a result of inflation, other factors such as consumer prices could strain tenants’ finances, he said.

But Ho said on Tuesday that the government had no plans to review the cap to include other metrics, as that could complicate resident surveys. “When we design these systems, they need to be rational as well as relatively simple,” she said.

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https://hongkongfp.com/2024/07/09/govt-proposed-10-increase-in-public-housing-rent-is-affordable-hong-kong-housing-chief-says/