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Edith Lin

Hong Kong public housing tenants are expected to pay an extra 10 per cent in rent a month, the maximum allowed under a government mechanism, the Housing Authority has said.
The public rental housing provider said on Monday the increase would range between HK$49 (US$6.3) and HK$572, with about 60 per cent of tenants set to pay up to HK$250 extra.
Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho Wing-yin said the average increase was HK$230.
“This is an amount that many residents can afford,” she said. “We also have different policies to assist families in need.”
The minister added that eligible families in financial difficulty could apply for rent assistance that offered a reduction of up to 50 per cent.
Ho said the government had been paying rent for those supported by the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance scheme, which was intended to cover recipients’ basic needs.
The authority reviews public housing rent once every two years. There is a 10 per cent cap on the increase rate, but no restriction on reductions.
The rate of increase initially reached 10.73 per cent this year as surveyed households earned more in 2023 than in 2021. But Ho said the government had no plans to review the 10 per cent cap.
Once approved, the increases will take effect in October with a three-month waiver for most tenants, according to the authority.
It added that “well-off tenants”, meaning those who exceeded certain income and asset thresholds, would not qualify for the exemption and would start paying the adjusted rents as soon as they came into force.
The authority described the waiver as a one-off “special concessionary measure” after considering “the prevailing socio-economic circumstances, the extent of the rent increase, impact on the public rental housing tenants and the authority’s financial position”.
The three-month waiver would cost the government HK$575 million in the 2024-25 financial year, contributing to an expected deficit of about HK$591 million for its rental housing operating account, it added.
The authority also rejected suggestions to waive rents for one month, as the body would lose HK$2.11 billion in rental income over the period, contributing to an estimated HK$2.13 billion deficit for its rental housing operating account that year.
The housing body said the 10 per cent increase in rents would generate HK$2.3 billion in additional annual revenue, but it still projected a HK$16 million deficit for 2024-25, while a HK$185 million surplus was expected for the year after.

Lawmaker Scott Leung Man-kwong, who serves on the authority’s subsidised housing committee, said the latest proposal struck a balance between the body’s financial situation and the financial burden on low-income families.
But he said the rent review mechanism used statistics from a year ago and had not factored in the latest economic situation, adding that he hoped such data could be incorporated into future plans.
Meanwhile, fellow lawmaker Bill Tang Ka-piu expressed concerns the increase would place more financial pressure on low-income tenants and urged the government to expand the scope of its rent assistance scheme.
As of March, about 807,800 households lived in public rental flats, with 80 per cent of them paying normal rent.
Only 4 per cent, or 34,700, were well-off tenants who had to pay up to double the standard rent each month, plus rates.
The public housing rental increase reached 9.66 per cent in 2020, but rents were waived for two months to ease tenants’ financial burden amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Public housing rents were last raised by 1.17 per cent in 2022. The rise ranged from HK$5 to HK$66 per month, and averaged HK$26.
The authority waived the extra rent tenants were required to pay in the first 12 months after the increase took effect.
The rental reviews also brought about a 10 per cent increase every two years between 2012 and 2018.


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Housing Authority says proposed monthly rent hike to range between HK$49 and HK$572, with about 60 per cent of tenants set to pay up to HK$250 extra


Housing Authority says proposed monthly rent hike to range between HK$49 and HK$572, with about 60 per cent of tenants set to pay up to HK$250 extra.


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