Public housing rent increase of 10% to take effect in October this year

The Housing Authority (HA) has completed a new round of review of public housing rents. Under the 10% rent increase mechanism, public housing tenants will have to pay an additional HK$49 to HK$572 per month, which will take effect from October this year.

In order to balance the impact of the rent increase, the HA proposes to provide a one-off special concessionary measure, whereby, except for " well-off tenants" of public housing, general tenants will be exempted from the rate of rent increase for the first three months, meaning that the new rent will be deferred to January next year.

The Secretary for Housing, Winnie Ho, said on a radio program today (July 9) that tenants with short-term financial difficulties could be assisted through the Rent Assistance Scheme. As for Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) households, their rents are paid by the government, so the rent increase will not affect this group of households.

Ho said that the current proposal to waive the rent increase for the first three months and the amount of waiver involved HK$570 million is considered to have balanced the interests of all parties concerned.

She also pointed out that public housing rents are cheaper, and hoped that while taking care of the needy tenants, the rent increase will enable the authorities to be more financially sound, so that public housing management can be sustained to do well and develop in a healthy manner.

Information from the HA shows that under the Rent Assistance Scheme, eligible applicants can receive a rent reduction of one-quarter or half of the rent for two years.