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.

The Housing (Amendment) Ordinance 2025 came into effect on 31 March 2026. This Amendment Ordinance addresses behaviours of serious abuse of public rental housing (PRH) and make them as criminal offences, strengthening enforcement measures to ensure that public housing resources are reserved for those in genuine need.

To combat tenancy abuse in public rental housing (PRH) more effectively, the Housing (Amendment) Ordinance 2025 was passed by the Legislative Council on 11 June 2025 and took effect on 31 March 2026.  The Amendment includes: (i) introducing new offences of serious tenancy abuse; (ii) empowering authorised officers to demand personal details from suspects ^{Note 1}; and (iii) extending the limitation of time for prosecution of offences of false statements, refusal to furnish information and unlawful alienations.

Under section 28A of the Housing Ordinance, the following behaviours constitute criminal offences and are liable on conviction to a maximum fine of HK$500,000 and one year imprisonment:

• Subletting, assisting with the subletting of PRH flat for profit or renting an illegally sublet PRH flat;
• Not residing in the PRH flat but using it for commercial purposes

The above behaviours constitute serious tenancy abuse offences, while the following common tenancy abuses breach the tenancy agreement and may lead to issuance of Notice-to-Quit (NTQ) to terminate the concerned tenancy.

• Non-occupation (residing in proven alternative accommodation or not retaining regular and continuous residence ^{Note 2} for over three months)
• Subletting (without rental income)
• Engaging in illegal activities inside the premises (e.g. gambling, possession of drugs or illicit cigarettes ^{Note 3}, etc.)
• Residing in the PRH flat while also using it for non-domestic usage (e.g. commercial activities, storage, etc.)
• False declaration ^{Note 4} (e.g. income, assets, marital status or household particulars, etc.)

The Subsidised Housing Committee (SHC) of the Housing Authority (HA) endorsed a series of measures to enhance efforts to combat tenancy abuse on 24 May 2023, with a view to safeguarding the rational use of PRH resources.  The new measures were implemented on 1 October 2023.

• 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;
• 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
• 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.

Serious abuse of PRH or a breach of the tenancy agreement will result in tenancy termination.  Tenants who are proven to have committed the offence of serious tenancy abuse and those who knowingly made false declarations may be prosecuted.

The ex-tenants and family members aged 18 or over at the date of tenancy termination whose tenancies have been terminated due to breach of the Tenancy Agreement will be subject to the restrictions of a five-year debarment for the application of PRH from the following day upon the expiry of the NTQ (even if the PRH application is registered, such application will be frozen and the frozen period will not be counted into the waiting time for PRH) and no offer of a better quality PRH flat (the criteria for not being allocated a better quality PRH flat are geographical locality, age of building and floor level.  Geographical locality is a mandatory restriction, and age of building and floor level must be included in one of the two criteria).

PRH tenants and the public can assess whether a behaviour constitutes tenancy abuse, breaches tenancy agreement/ housing policies, or violates the Housing Ordinance and understand relevant information on tenancy abuse, through the "Checker" platform.  

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/Housing Department (HD) ^{Note 5}, 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 6} will be given a reward of HK$3,000 ^{Note 7} and a certificate of appreciation as recognition.

Arrangement for the Award 

• 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;
• 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;
• 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;
• 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
• 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) 

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 HD 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.

• 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

Authorised officers of the HD are empowered, when performing their duties, to request individuals reasonably suspected of violating the Housing Ordinance to provide personal details and proof of identity for inspection. Refusal to provide information without reasonable excuse commits an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a maximum fine of HK$10,000 and six months imprisonment under section 26C of the Housing Ordinance.

Note 2

“Regular and Continuous” be construed in accordance with its ordinary meaning and reasonableness is the crucial yardstick in judging the cases.

Note 3

Depending on the relevant behaviours, there may be a possibility of violating other laws.

Note 4

There is a possibility of committing the offence of false statements under section 26 of the Housing Ordinance at the same time.

Note 5

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 6

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

Note 7

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 HK$3,000 equally, and each informant can receive the certificate of appreciation.