To ensure proper utilisation and rational allocation of limited public housing resources, Housing Department staff will conduct biennial flat inspections on PRH households to check their occupancy position.

A PRH flat should be occupied by the tenant and his / her family members listed on the tenancy agreement only. The tenant shall notify the estate office / DTMO immediately of any household changes caused by birth, death or otherwise so that necessary actions according to the prevailing tenancy management policies can be taken.

A tenant who needs to be taken care of by his / her family members or close relatives, or vice versa, may apply for their conditional temporary stay.

Upon the death of a tenant, the surviving spouse who is an authorised occupant (AO) of the PRH flat may take over the tenancy unconditionally. Where there is no authorised surviving spouse, the tenancy may be granted to a family member who is an AO living in the PRH flat. However, this household has to undergo a comprehensive means test covering both income and assets to assess its eligibility for the grant of a new tenancy and to determine the rent level payable.

In general, we do not take active steps to secure removal of either party of a couple upon their divorce. However, if both parties cannot reach an agreement on the public housing tenancy, we will take necessary actions according to the prevailing divorce policy.

• Splitting Requests from Sharing Households of Compulsory Categories

Consideration and priority will be given to splitting requests raised by sharing households of compulsory categories (i.e. single persons who, upon clearance or redevelopment, were arranged or chose to share accommodation with unrelated or distantly related people) on such grounds as overcrowding or inconvenience brought about by addition of family members, disputes between the flat sharers, etc.

• Splitting Requests from Households Sharing a Flat on Voluntary Basis and Family Households

To avoid inequity to PRH applicants on the Waiting List, households sharing their accommodation on a voluntary basis or kinship households cannot obtain a separate PRH flat through splitting. Only in special cases whereby the household has an urgent need for separate accommodation, its splitting request will be considered; but the application must be supported by the Social Welfare Department and the household must fulfill the Comprehensive Means Test and owns no domestic property.