By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-04-05 13:41:10 | Updated at 2025-04-06 05:32:20
16 hours ago
Hong Kong’s second-largest public housing provider plans to send out a fresh round of tenancy agreements in September that will require well-off residents to pay extra rent, with those who refuse expected to move out in four months, the group’s chairman has said.
Ling Kar-kan, Hong Kong Housing Society chairman, also said on Saturday the body was confident that the new rules would stand up to legal scrutiny.
He said the new agreement, which requires tenants to regularly report their income and asset levels to the organisation, would be sent to about 25,000 households yet to be covered by the policy from September.
“If the tenants accept the terms, they can carry on paying rent in the following months. If they don’t accept the terms, they can inform us by not accepting the new tenancy agreement,” Ling told a radio programme.
The society’s chairman said those who refused to accept the new terms would be given a four-month grace period to move out.
Ling said the society had already conducted an assessment to ensure the policy could stand up to any legal challenges.
“We carefully looked into this and thoroughly consulted legal advice,” he said. “Our assessment is that even if we face any judicial challenges, we would have enough reasons [to make a case].”
