Hong Kong’s second largest public housing provider has announced a 10 per cent rent rise as it faces a rising repair bill for ageing estates. The Hong Kong Housing Society (HKHS), an independent and non-profit organisation which operates 20 rental estates citywide, announced on Wednesday it had approved the increase. “Well-off tenants” – those whose income and assets exceeded certain thresholds – will start paying the new rents in October, while the others will be exempt until January.
The new measures will see tenants in Group A estates, which cater to low-income families, pay an extra HK$230 per month, while those in the three Group B rental estates, for families with higher incomes, will pay HK$640 more. Group B flats make up some 2,112 of the 32,663 flats operated by the Housing Society. The new rents will remain in effect until September 2026, in accordance with a review mechanism which aims to balance “tenants’ affordability and the operational sustainability of rental estates.
” The move came just weeks after Hong Kong’s Housing Bureau, a government department, submitted a proposal for a 10 per cent rent hike for subsidised housing to the legislature. It would involve rises of between HK$49 and HK$572 every month, with an average increase of HK$230. Housing chief Winnie Ho said the increases would be affordable for most tenants.
See also: 5,000 Hong Kong public housing units recovered in 2 years amid crackdown on ‘rich tenants’ In a statement, the .