Section A: Application for Public Housing, Transfer and Subsidized Home Ownership Schemes Chapter 1: Application for Public Rental Housing Waiting List The Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) maintains a Waiting List (WL) through which applicants may apply for public housing in one out of four districts (i.e. Urban, Extended Urban, New Territories and Islands) for rehousing. To balance the supply and demand of public rental housing (PRH) flats from WL applicants in Urban District so as to speed up flat allocation, applicants registered after 30 September 2006 can only opt for public housing in the non-urban districts such as Extended Urban (including Tung Chung, Shatin, Ma On Shan, Tsuen Wan, Kwai Chung, Tsing Yi and Tseung Kwan O), New Territories (including Tin Shui Wai, Tai Po, Fanling, Sheung Shui, Yuen Long and Tuen Mun) and Islands (excluding Tung Chung). Nevertheless, elderly applicants and applicants who join the Families with Elderly Persons Priority Scheme may apply for public housing in any district of their choice. The Subsidised Housing Committee of the HA endorsed on 29 September 2005 that for those households departing from PRH after termination of tenancy and failing to clear the rent arrears, the tenant or adult members are required to settle all the rent arrears and debts incurred in the past before being allocated to a PRH unit through the Waiting List. The Subsidised Housing Committee of the HA endorsed on 26 October 2005 that in situation where tenancies are terminated due to the violation of the Marking Scheme for Estate Management Enforcement in Public Housing Estates or the tenancy agreements, the ex-tenants and authorized persons aged 18 or above as at the date of tenancy termination, except for interim housing (IH) licencees, will be barred from making fresh WL applications for two years.  Live applications including IH licencees will be frozen for two years.  This frozen period will not be counted as the waiting time.  Upon rehousing to PRH, they will not be offered a flat of better quality, in respect of geographical locality, age of building and floor level.            1. Applications by Ordinary Families   a. Eligibility     i. The applicant must be 18 years of age or over. The applicant and his/her family members must be residing in Hong Kong and have the right to land in Hong Kong without subject to any conditions of stay (except for conditions concerning a limit of stay). Family members who are not living and have not landed in Hong Kong cannot be included in the application.               ii. A person under 18 years of age must apply together with his/her parents or legal guardian.               iii. The relationship between the applicant and the other family members must be either husband and wife, parents, children, grandparents, grandchildren, unmarried brothers and sisters or other dependent relatives who are willing to live with the applicant.               iv. All married family members included in the application must apply together with their spouse (except for divorcee, widow/widower or spouse who is not living and has not landed in Hong Kong).               v. Only one of the married children of the applicant may be included in the application.               vi. At the time of allocation, at least half of the family members included in the application must have lived in Hong Kong for seven years and are still living in Hong Kong. Under the following circumstances, all children under the age of 18 are deemed to have fulfilled the seven-year requirement :   regardless of their place of birth and one of their parents having lived in Hong Kong for seven years; or                   with established Hong Kong birth status as permanent resident.               vii. The applicant or his/her family members must not         own or co-own any domestic property;                 have entered into any agreement to purchase a domestic property;                 own more than 50% share in a company which owns domestic properties, at the time of registration up to the time when a tenancy agreement is signed upon allocation of PRH.                 Domestic property includes any post-war domestic property, uncompleted private domestic property, uncontrolled or self-occupied pre-war domestic property, roof top structure approved by the Building Authority, domestic building lots and Small House Grants in Hong Kong.       viii. The total monthly income and current net assets value of the applicant and his/her family members must not exceed the maximum income and total net assets value limits as laid down by the HA.  Such limits are subject to annual review.  At the time of filing an application and attending the interview to determine eligibility for PRH allocation, the applicant and family members must declare their income (deduction of 5% of income is allowed for employee's statutory contribution to the Mandatory Provident Fund or Provident Fund) and produce employment and salary certificates in the specified format as required by the HA.  If they are self-employed, they have to produce documentary proof such as the Business Registration Certificate (photocopy), Trading and Profit and Loss Accounts, Balance Sheets, tax returns, receipts and records of business transactions for vetting.               ix. The applicant and his/her family members must declare the assets they own, including :           Land (land in and outside Hong Kong);         Landed properties (e.g. completed and pre-sale domestic, commercial and industrial properties, car parks and landed properties under Agreements for Sale and Purchase in and outside Hong Kong);         Vehicles (e.g. private and commercial vehicles);         Transferable vehicles licences (e.g. taxi and public light bus licences);         Investments (e.g. mutual fund, unit trust fund, shares, deposits with brokers, commodity futures, paper gold, certificates of deposit, insurance plans and bonds, etc);         Business undertakings (e.g. interest in business of sole proprietorship, partnership or limited companies and the various types of assets owned by the business);         Bank deposits and cash in hand (e.g. current and fixed bank deposits in Hong Kong and foreign currencies and cash in hand in the amount of HK$5,000 or above).         The applicant and his/her family member owning assets must produce documentary proof for inspection.       x. New application from the whole household of existing PRH tenants will not be accepted.       xi. Ex-owners / ex-joint owners or former recipients of various subsidised home ownership schemes such as Home Ownership Scheme / Private Sector Participation Scheme, Mortgage Subsidy Scheme, Buy or Rent Option Scheme, Tenants Purchase Scheme, Home Purchase Loan Scheme and Home Assistance Loan Scheme are not allowed to apply for PRH. However, the Housing Department (HD) may grant special consideration to their application in the following circumstances subject to their fulfilment of other PRH eligibility criteria :         bankruptcy;                 financial hardship resulting in need for Comprehensive Social Security Assistance;                 adverse changes to family circumstances such as divorce, death of bread-winner, etc;                 a significant drop in household income resulting in difficulties in financing the home purchase; or                 households beset with medical and social problems but not to the extent to qualify for compassionate rehousing.                 Applicants should submit supporting documents for consideration by the HD.       xii. Family members of various subsidized home ownership schemes are permitted to apply provided that their names have been deleted from the relevant records and subject to the fulfilment of other PRH eligibility criteria.               xiii. Purchasers of flats under the Home Ownership Scheme/Private Sector Participation Scheme, Buy or Rent Option Scheme and Tenants Purchase Scheme who have rescinded the Agreement for Sale and Purchase can only apply for registration on the WL after execution of the Cancellation Agreement, subject to the fulfilment of other PRH eligibility criteria.               xiv. Arrangements for processing divorce cases of WL applicants:         Upon divorce, the party with the custody of children has the priority right to retain the original application if consent on the ownership of the application cannot be reached by both parties to the divorce;                 If the other party, irrespective of whether he/she gets the custody of any child, is still in need of PRH and can fulfil all WL eligibility criteria, a fresh application will be accepted with the registered date equivalent to that of the original application;                 The same arrangement will also apply before the Decree Absolute is issued on condition that an agreement on the custody of children can be reached by both parties to the divorce and documentary proof showing that the relevant divorce proceedings are in progress can be produced.  Offer of PRH flats to such eligible applicants will be made in the form of conditional tenancies upon confirmation of their eligibility for PRH allocation.               xv. In situation where tenancies are terminated due to the violation of the Marking Scheme for Estate Management Enforcement in Public Housing Estates or the tenancy agreements, the ex-tenants and authorized persons aged 18 or above as at the date of tenancy termination, except for interim housing (IH) licencees, will be barred from making fresh WL applications for two years.  Live applications including IH licencees will be frozen for two years.  This frozen period will not be counted as the waiting time.  Upon rehousing to PRH, they will not be offered a flat of better quality, in respect of geographical locality, age of building and floor level.       b. Flat Allocation     Allocation of public housing units is handled strictly in accordance with the order of priority of the applications on the WL and the applicant's choice of district or based on the quota set and the points scored by non-elderly one-person applicants, depending on the nature of the WL applications.  Reasons such as poor health or unsatisfactory living conditions will not justify an early allocation.  However, if the applicant can produce documents (e.g. Eviction Order issued by the Lands Tribunal and the tenancy agreement was signed before the Landlord and Tenant (Consolidation) Ordinance came into effect on 9 July 2004, except the order issued due to the breach of tenancy condition(s)) to prove that he/she will shortly be evicted from his/her present abode, and provided that his/her application satisfies all the eligibility criteria and he/she is due for flat allocation within one year, priority will be given to processing his/her application.  The age limit for allocation of Housing for Senior Citizens units has been lifted.  Eligible ordinary families with two persons may also be offered two-person units of Housing for Senior Citizens.  If an applicant has failed to clear the rent arrears on exit from his/her previous PRH flat upon termination of tenancy, the tenant or adult members of the family are required to settle all the rent arrears and debts incurred to the HA in the past before being offered a new PRH allocation.            2. Application by Elderly Persons   The Department has introduced a number of housing schemes, under which public housing is provided for the elderly on a priority basis. Under normal circumstances, eligible applicants under the schemes can have their waiting time shortened or enjoy special allocation arrangements.             Single Elderly Persons Priority Scheme   a. Eligibility     i. The applicant must be 58 years of age or over, and must have attained the age of 60 and have lived in Hong Kong for seven years and is still living in Hong Kong at the time of flat allocation.               ii. The total monthly income and net assets value of the applicant must not exceed the maximum income and total net assets value limits as laid down by the HA.               iii. The applicant has to meet all eligibility criteria applicable to ordinary families.             b. Addition of Family Member     A single elderly applicant may apply for addition of family members to become qualified as an ordinary family applicant on the WL.  Half of the waiting time accumulated in the one-person line, up to a maximum of three years, will be credited to the family application.  After adjusting the waiting time, a registration date equivalent to that of a family application will be computed.  This registration date will serve as a reference for the subsequent allocation and application of the relevant public housing application policies.     c. Flat Allocation     Allocation of public housing flat is handled strictly in accordance with the order of priority of applications on the WL and the applicant's choice of district.  Either Housing for Senior Citizens or one-person flats will be allocated to the eligible applicants.  Waiting time will vary with applicants' choice of district and our housing supply.  Those who opt for the urban district normally have to wait longer.             Elderly Persons Priority Scheme   a. Eligibility     i. Two or more elderly persons who undertake to live together upon flat allocation are eligible to apply. For unrelated members, they are required to sign the application form together.               ii. All of them must be 58 years of age or over at the time of filing in their application and must have attained the age of 60 by the time of flat allocation.               iii. The total household income and current net assets value of the elderly persons must not exceed the maximum income and total net assets value limits as laid down by the HA.               iv. The applicant and household members have to meet all respective eligibility criteria applicable to ordinary families.             b. Allocation     While the waiting time will vary with our housing supply and the applicant's choice of district, eligible elderly persons will normally be allocated a flat in two years if they opt for flats in the New Territories.             Families with Elderly Persons Priority Scheme   Eligible families under this priority scheme will have flat allocation advanced by three years at most.   a. Eligibility     i. The applicant's family must consist of at least two members, and at least one of them must be an elderly relative.               ii. At the time of application, the elderly person must have reached the age of 60 and is willing to live with the other member(s).               iii. The family has to meet all eligibility criteria applicable to ordinary families.               iv. Application will have their case investigated according to the priority order of their application which should have been registered for not less than 18 months.           b. Flat Allocation     Irrespective of whether the elderly or another mature family member is the applicant, both of them have to sign an undertaking at the time of investigation to the effect that the latter would live together with and take care of the elderly.  The tenancy so granted may be terminated if the latter member is subsequently found to have failed in complying with this rule.             Special Scheme for Families with Elderly Persons   This scheme allows young families to apply together with their elderly parents/dependent relatives in one or two applications for two separate flats under one or two tenancies in the same estate in all districts except Urban.  Eligible applicants will have flat allocation advanced by two years at most.    a. Eligibility     i. The applicant's family must be a nuclear family plus at least two elderly parents/dependent relatives.               ii. The family has to meet all WL eligibility criteria.               iii. Eligible families should have registered on the WL for at least 18 months.             b. Flat Allocation     As the application(s) is for two separate flats under one or two tenancies in the same estate, the waiting time for flat allocation is subject to availability of suitable flats.  Investigation of the elderly parents/dependent relatives' application will be advanced should the application of the young family mature first.  Having satisfied all WL eligibility criteria, both families will have their allocation of two separate flats in the same estate in all districts except Urban advanced by two years at most.  Eligible applicants should abide by the tenancy conditions with regard to their obligation to look after their elderly parents/dependent relatives.             Application by Non-elderly One-Person Applicants   The HA's Subsidized Housing Committee endorsed the establishment of an annual quota for non-elderly one-person applicants and a points system to accord priority to applicants of higher age on 29 September 2005. The HA provides single-person units to single persons who are eligible for permanent housing. Such units include purpose-built units in new estates and converted units in existing estates. Single persons who are interested may apply for such units through the Single Persons Waiting List (SPWL).   a. Eligibility     i. The total monthly income and current net assets value of the applicant must not exceed the limits laid down by the HA.               ii. The applicant has to meet all appropriate eligibility criteria applicable to ordinary families.             iii. The priority of non-elderly one-person applicants on the WL will be determined according to the points received.  The more points the applicant gets, the earlier applicant will be offered a flat, upon fulfilling other PRH eligibility criteria.             b. Points System     Points will be allotted basing on an applicant's age when his/her application is registered.  Under the Points System, zero point will be given to applicants aged 18 and three points will be added for every year of age.  Applicants aged 19 will get three points.  Those at 20 will get six points and so forth.  Applicants who are 59 of age will be allotted 123 points. For applicants living in PRH, including rental housing operated by the Hong Kong Housing Society, 30 points will be deducted. Applicants will be given an additional point for one more month on the WL.             c. Addition of Family Members     Non-elderly one-person WL applicants may apply for addition of family members in order to be qualified as an ordinary family on the WL.  Half of the waiting time as a non-elderly one-person applicant will be credited to the application, up to a maximum of 18 months.  After adjusting the waiting time, a registration date equivalent to that of a family application will be computed.  This registration date will serve as a reference for the subsequent allocation and application of the relevant public housing application policies.          d. Family Applicant Switching to Non-elderly One-person     Family applicants switching to non-elderly one-person applications will be subject to the Points System immediately.  The applicant's age at the time of submitting the original family applications will form the basis for calculating the points.  Their accumulated waiting time can be carried in full to the one-person application category.         e. Flat Allocation     Allocation of public housing units is handled strictly in accordance with the priority of the applications on the WL and the applicant's choice of district or based on the quota set and the points scored by non-elderly one-person applicants, depending on the nature of the WL applications.  One-person flats will be allocated to eligible applicants.  However, due to limited resources, applicants cannot insist on the allocation of a specific type of one-person flats.  Non-elderly one-person applicants who reach the age of 60 by the time of allocation may be processed under the Single Elderly Persons Priority Scheme.  The age limit for allocation of Housing for Senior Citizens units has been lifted.  Non-elderly one-person applicants may also be offered a one-person Housing for Senior Citizens unit.

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