From the 18th of next month, the owner will accept the tenant to wait until December
Hong Kong Wenhui News (Reporter Nie Xiaohui) The demand for housing in Hong Kong is strong. The Hong Kong Housing Society announced yesterday the optimization measures for “not subsidizing the sale of housing – rental scheme” (hereinafter referred to as “rental scheme 2019”) and application arrangements for the HS and housing Eligible owners of more than 350,000 eligible subsistence flats under the committee may lease their unpaid flats or bedrooms to eligible public rental flats or be entrusted by the HKCSS as a “second landlord” An accredited social service agency or social enterprise assists eligible owners to sub-let the flats and provide support services to tenants. The “Rental Plan 2019” will begin accepting applications from eligible owners on the 18th of next month. Tenant applications will start in December this year.
The Housing Authority first launched the “Unpaid Subsidy for Sale of Housing – Leasing Scheme” in September last year to provide “temporary rental housing” for eligible persons on the Waiting List. The Housing Authority Subsidised Housing Committee subsequently followed this year. The month passed the HA to participate in the “rental scheme”.
Online information platform for easy pairing
However, as the effectiveness of the scheme was not satisfactory, the HS announced the planned optimization measures yesterday after the review, mainly including allowing eligible owners to rent out the entire unpaid units or individual bedrooms (units with two bedrooms or more). The owners can only rent up to two tenants) or co-operate with the HKCSS to entrust an authorized social service organisation or a social enterprise as a “second landlord” to assist the eligible owners to sub-let the flats and provide support services to tenants. The form is similar to the Social Housing Sharing Scheme of the HKCSS; and an online information platform is set up to provide information to owners and tenants who hold the Certificate of Participation Scheme for easy matching.
At present, the Housing Society and the Housing Authority have a total of over 350,000 unpaid subsidised sale flats which can participate in the “Rental Scheme 2019”. About 500 of them are owned by the HS. The owner of the participating scheme must have the title of the unit for 10 years on the date of submitting the application. The transfer or lease of the unit is still subject to the government’s land lease contract.
For tenants, they must be a general applicant with a valid Housing Authority’s public housing application number and have been registered for 3 years or more, or a valid Housing Authority quota and the number of public housing applications under the Scheme System. Non-elderly one-person households registered for 6 years or more. Applicants and family members must apply for the Housing Authority’s public housing eligibility on the day of application for the HA’s public housing estate until the tenancy certificate of the scheme is issued.
Huang Jielong expects more owners to participate
After the owners and tenants have obtained the relevant certificates, the two parties can pair themselves through property agents or through the online information platform set up by the HS. Under the Housing Ordinance, if the Housing Authority subsidizes the sale of flats, tenants must first obtain a nomination certificate from the relevant flats before they can sign a tenancy agreement with the owners. The landlord and the tenant must use the designated standard tenancy agreement for a term of two years. The rent is determined by agreement between the landlord and the tenant. If a tenant or family member is allocated a public housing estate by the HA or the HS during the tenancy period or has purchased a residential property in Hong Kong, the tenancy agreement must be terminated early.
The Chief Executive of the Housing Society, Mr Wong Kai-lung, said that since the launch of the scheme last year, he has received the views of different stakeholders. Therefore, the introduction of optimization measures is expected to facilitate the participation of more owners and make good use of the existing housing resources for the waiting list of public housing. Provide transitional housing options that improve the living environment.