To improve the turnover of subsidised sale flats and help elderly owners enjoy a more secure retirement, the Housing Authority’s Subsidised Housing Committee has approved two new schemes. The new measures will relax restrictions on the rental and sale of flats with unpaid premiums, with applications expected to open as early as September this year.
To make better use of existing housing resources and provide more rental options for people who are not eligible for public rental housing but cannot afford to buy private homes, the Housing Authority and the Hong Kong Housing Society will launch the “Letting Scheme for Subsidised Sale Developments with Premium Unpaid” for White Form applicants on a pilot basis. The first phase will offer a quota of 3,000.
Who is eligible to apply? Owners who have held a subsidised sale flat under the Housing Authority or the Housing Society for 10 years or more may, after paying a letting permit fee, rent out their entire flat with unpaid premium to applicants who meet the eligibility requirements for the latest round of White Form HOS applications.
In terms of tenant eligibility, the scheme mainly targets general family applicants who have been waiting for public rental housing for three years or more. For those eligible under the Families with Newborns Allocation Priority Scheme, the required waiting period can be shortened to two years. Eligible White Form applicants may also take part, subject to the required application procedures.
Owners and White Form tenants who wish to participate must submit separate applications during the scheme period and pay an application fee of HK$400 to obtain an “Owner Certificate” or a “Tenant Certificate (White Form).” After successfully obtaining the certificates, both parties may communicate and match through the Owner and Tenant Information Sharing Platform or through estate agents.
The standard tenancy period under the scheme is two years, with the rent to be agreed between both parties. After a successful match and before signing the formal tenancy agreement, the tenant must additionally apply for a “Nomination Certificate,” which costs HK$400. The owner may only sign the formal tenancy agreement after the tenant has successfully obtained this certificate.
It is worth noting that if the flat is rented to a White Form tenant, the owner must pay a “letting permit fee” on a quarterly basis. The fee is calculated according to the district and flat size, and is roughly equivalent to 21% of the average monthly rent of private housing. If the flat is rented to a Green Form tenant, the owner is exempt from paying this permit fee.
Based on provisional figures from the Rating and Valuation Department for the first quarter of this year, for a flat of around 35 square metres, or about 376 square feet, the average monthly permit fees payable by owners on Hong Kong Island, in Kowloon and in the New Territories are estimated at around HK$3,500, HK$3,115 and HK$2,310 respectively.
Another new measure is the Flat-for-Flat Pilot Scheme for Elderly Owners, which aims to provide elderly owners with more flexible options for reallocating their assets to support their retirement. Elderly owners who have held a Housing Authority subsidised sale flat for 10 years or more, and whose registered family members are all aged 60 or above, are eligible to apply.
Participating owners must apply for a “Transaction Permit,” which costs HK$500. After obtaining the permit, owners may sell their existing flat without paying the premium, and then purchase a smaller flat in terms of saleable area in the secondary market. To prevent short-term speculation, the new flat cannot be sold in the secondary market within two years from the date of the assignment.
