Hong Kong's Housing Authority launched the "Report Abuse of Public Housing Award" in January last year. Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho said yesterday that as of the end of March this year, a total of 5,400 named reports had been received, of which 25 cases were confirmed and resulted in the recovery of public housing units. Each whistleblower received a reward of HK$3,000.
Speaking on a radio program today (May 21), Legislative Council member and Housing Authority committee member Leung Man-kwong said the vast majority of public housing residents abide by the rules, and abusers are a tiny minority. He believes the scheme serves as a deterrent and a safety net.
Among the 5,400 reports, more than 80% could not be followed up on. Leung explained that the main reason is a misunderstanding among reporters about what constitutes abuse of public housing — for example, mistaking noise complaints or legally authorised additional household members as violations. He believes these are not deliberate false reports but genuine misunderstandings, and the named reporting system helps prevent malicious fabrications. Regarding suggestions to raise the HK$3,000 reward, he said the current amount is appropriate.
Separately, applications for the latest round of Home Ownership Scheme, Green Form Subsidised Home Ownership Scheme, and White Form Secondary Market Scheme closed at 7 pm yesterday, with oversubscription of about 13 times. Leung said this reflects strong demand for subsidised sale flats among lower-middle-income or sandwich-class families, and suggested the government could increase the proportion of subsidised sale flats in future public housing supply.
Related News:
Budget 2026-27 | Projected 196,000 public housing units, 104,000 private units in next five years
Comment