Hong Kong Housing Authority and Housing Department

Public housing resources are precious. They should be allocated appropriately and rationally to those in genuine need. We are committed to combating tenancy abuses and striving to take stringent action against all tenancy abuse cases.

Tenants who are proven to have abused public housing resources will have their tenancies terminated and those who knowingly made false declarations may be prosecuted.

The Chief Executive announced in the 2024 Policy Address that the “Cherish Public Housing Resources Award Scheme” would be launched to offer rewards to persons who provides concrete intelligence that leads to identification of substantiated tenancy abuse of PRH. The Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) has named the scheme as the “Report Public Housing Abuse Award” (the Award) and launched the Award on 15 January 2025. For details, please refer to “Report Public Housing Abuse Award” below.

• Non-occupation (or not retaining regular and continuous residence for over three months )
• Subletting (with or without rental income)
• Engaging in illegal activities (e.g. gambling, possession of drugs or illicit cigarettes)
• Non-domestic usage (e.g. commercial activities, storage)
• False declaration (e.g. income, assets, marital status or household particulars)

If the abuse is of a more serious nature, we will terminate the concerned tenancy without prior warning.  The ex-tenants and all authorised persons aged 18 or above whose tenancies have been terminated due to breach of the Tenancy Agreement will be ineligible for making fresh public rental housing applications for five years from the date of tenancy termination.  They will not be offered a flat better than their previous abodes in terms of geographical locality, age of building and floor level.

The more serious breaches include cases of -

• Subletting (with or without rental income)
• Staying in proven alternative accommodation or not retaining regular and continuous residence for over three months (“regular and continuous” be construed in accordance with its ordinary meaning and reasonableness is the crucial yardstick in judging the cases)
• Engaging in illegal activities inside the premises

In addition to the routine tenancy control carried out by our estate offices, we have also set up the Public Housing Resources Management
Sub-section (PHRM) under the Housing Department to combat abuses of public housing resources. Apart from looking into suspected tenancy abuse cases, the PHRM also closely examines the declarations of incomes and assets made by PRH tenants and applicants of various subsidised housing schemes to prevent public housing abuse.

The HA Subsidised Housing Committee (SHC) endorsed a series of new measures to enhance efforts to combat tenancy abuse and enhance the "Well-off Tenants Policies"on 24 May 2023, with a view to safeguarding the rational use of public rental housing (PRH) resources.  The new measures will be effective from October 1, 2023.

1. PRH tenants are required to make declarations every two years that they have continuously resided in the units and complied with the terms in the tenancy agreement regarding occupancy status after admission to PRH. Tenants are also required to authorized the HA to check their information with relevant Government Bureaux/Departments and public/private organizations. Tenants who refuse to make declarations or fail to make declarations within the specified time may have their tenancies terminated;
2. applicants whose PRH applications are cancelled on grounds of making false declarations during application are barred from re-applying for PRH for a period of five years; and
3. former PRH tenants whose tenancies were terminated due to making false declarations, breaching any terms of the tenancy agreement, violating the Marking Scheme for Estate Management Enforcement, etc., are barred from re-applying for PRH for five years from the date of termination.

To further enhance the effectiveness of combating tenancy abuse, the HA launched the Award on 15 January 2025. Except the staff directly employed by the HA/HD ^{Note 1}, informants who provides genuine and concrete information with real-name that leads to the HD’s successful issuance of NTQ to households with tenancy abuse ^{Note 2} will be given a reward of $3,000 ^{Note 3} and a certificate of appreciation as recognition.

Arrangement for the Award 

1. For tenancy abuse cases reported before the launching of the Award by informants with known identity, if the investigation is not yet completed, upon the reported cases found to be substantiated with the informants’ information and leading to issuance of NTQ to the households with tenancy abuse after the launching of the Award, we will contact the informant to confirm if they would join the Award;
2. Except the staff directly employed by the HA/HD, any person aged 16 or above who provides genuine and concrete information that leads to the HD’s successful issuance of NTQ to households with tenancy abuse may join the Award. As cash reward will be offered, participants must show their real-name on the reports and indicate their intention to join the Award. The reports will be preliminarily assessed and the informants will be interviewed by dedicated personnel to verify the accuracy of the information provided. The participants, including those who make reports in non-prescribed formats, will be notified of the receipt of report through an acknowledgement notice;
3. To encourage reporting of tenancy abuse cases, the HA will present a certificate of appreciation and offer a maximum cash reward of HK$3,000 to the Award participants who provide information that leads to the HA’s successful issuance of NTQ to households with tenancy abuse;
4. To prevent misuse of the Award, the reporting cases for receiving the reward will be reviewed by an Assessment Panel. The Assessment Panel will also examine cases of complicated/controversial nature (such as cases with more than one person claiming that NTQ was issued to a particular PRH household due to their provided information). The Assessment Panel, chaired by a directorate officer, will make the final decision; and
5. The identity of informants will be kept strictly confidential; in addition, we will not disclose the investigation details and results to the informants.

Frequently Asked Questions

(Please click here for Frequently Asked Questions) 

• Call the Housing Authority Hotline 2712 2712
• Send in the Tenancy Abuse Report Aerogramme or Abuse Report Form [HD844] (PDF format)
• Submit the Online Form for Reporting Abuse of Public Housing Resources 
  Online Form for Reporting Abuse of Public Housing Resources
• Inform estate office

If you have any clues or information concerning tenancy abuse, you can report via the above ways.  All information provided will be kept strictly confidential.

Note 1

Including civil servants, term or contract staff employed directly by the HA/HD and body-shopped personnel employed through consultant company to execute the duties of the HA/HD.

Note 2

Irrespective of whether the informant takes part in the Award or not, the HA will conduct thorough investigation and issue NTQ to households with tenancy abuse according to the prevailing policies. 

Note 3

If multiple informants have reported the same case of tenancy abuse, and the HA needs to rely on the information from more than one informant to conclude the investigation and establish the abuse of public housing for the issuance of NTQ, such informants can share the cash reward of $3,000 equally, and each informant can receive the certificate of appreciation.