Hong Kong social housing provider announces 10% rent hike

Hong Kong’s second-largest social housing provider has announced a 10% rent increase as it faces a growing repair bill for ageing neighbourhoods.

The Hong Kong Housing Society (HKHS), an independent, non-profit organisation that manages 20 rental housing developments across the city, said on Wednesday it had approved the increase.

“Wealthy tenants” – those whose income and assets exceed certain thresholds – will start paying the new rents in October, while others will be exempt until January.

The new measures see tenants in Group A residences, which are for low-income families, pay HK$230 more per month, while those in the three Group B rental residences, which are for higher-income families, will pay HK$640 more. Group B flats make up about 2,112 of the 32,663 flats managed by the Housing Society.

The new rents will remain in effect until September 2026, in accordance with a review mechanism that aims to balance “the financial capacity of tenants and the operational sustainability of rental properties”.

The move comes weeks after the Hong Kong Housing Bureau, a government department, submitted a proposal to parliament to raise public housing rents by 10 percent. The move would involve increases of HK$49 to HK$572 per 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 social housing units recovered in Hong Kong in 2 years thanks to the crackdown on ‘rich tenants’

In a statement, the HKHS said: “In light of the current economic situation, the HKHS has decided to grant a special concession by waiving the additional rent payable by tenants due to the rent adjustment for the first three months.”

The company will postpone the October rent increase – when wealthy tenants will start paying the new rents – to January for other residents, costing it about HK$24 million.

Tenants who are experiencing “short-term financial difficulties” can apply for assistance from the HKHS’s rental assistance scheme, under which they can receive rent reductions of 50 or 25 per cent.

The company said increased expenses had led to an operating deficit. “HKHS’s housing rental operations are expected to continue to record a deficit over the next two years,” it said.

Although the Housing Corporation provides social housing, it operates on a self-financing basis.

HKHS property management director Sanford Poon told RTHK on Thursday that about 60% of tenants would see their rents increase by less than HKD230, lower than the average for Group A housing estates.

Asked whether the company would consider a six-month waiver instead, Poon said he thought three months was appropriate, adding that 90% of tenants eligible for rental assistance only had to pay half the normal rent, with the remaining 10% paying even less.

He said the company’s financial difficulties were partly due to its ageing estates, half of which had been in existence for more than 50 years and needed major repairs.

David Chiu, executive director of the Federation of Public Housing Developments, said on the same show that he understood the need for the rent increase and that the HKHS would take into account residents’ means.

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