New Public Housing Declaration Policy and Technology Use

Public housing declaration

The Housing Authority has tightened its “rich households policy” this month. 88,000 public housing tenants who have lived in public housing for 2 to 9 years will receive a declaration form and be asked to report whether they own residential properties in Hong Kong. In the past, the Housing Department randomly checked the income and asset declaration forms of public housing tenants at a low rate. This time, more declaration forms have been added. Housing Director Law Shu-pui said that the random checks will be handled with existing manpower, and in the future, the use of technology will also be studied to combat the abuse of public housing. Legislative Council member Tian Beichen pointed out that the Housing Department should use big data technology to check the property transactions of public housing tenants immediately without waiting for declaration authorization. If the Housing Department finds serious abuse after random inspections, it will need to increase manpower to deal with it in the next stage. .

Under the new “rich households policy”, the Housing Department will issue declaration forms via mailbox to 88,000 public housing households who have lived in public housing for 2 to 9 years starting from the 3rd of this month. In the future, public housing households will be required to declare every two years after living for 2 years. , including continuing to live in the unit, complying with the lease terms related to the living situation, authorizing the Housing Authority to check the tenant information with relevant government departments and public and private institutions, and residents need to submit it before the end of November. The Housing Department will require public housing households to submit declarations in April and October every year. It is expected to complete the issuance of the first declaration form to 800,000 households in five batches by October 2025.

The Housing Department recovered 2,200 flats last year through combating abuse of public housing. Director of Housing Law Shu-pui pointed out that it is difficult to generalize the number of units that can be repossessed this time, and the process of repossessing units does not take a certain time; if the residents have left Hong Kong for several months, they will still be there afterward. You can contact the Housing Department for explanation, and the Housing Department will handle it as appropriate. “If you don’t come back to open the mailbox for two months without a good reason, in fact, I have reason to doubt whether you usually live in the unit?” If the tenant insists on not reporting, the situation is serious. The lease can be terminated, and we hope this declaration will have a deterrent effect. The HD’s investigation time is also different for different abuse situations. For example, in the case of empty units, the HD’s observation period is generally 3 to 4 months. If the unit is used for illegal purposes, once it is proven, the HD can immediately issue a notice to the tenant. Notice to Move Out.

Public housing declaration

Public housing declaration

Using technology to detect household situations or privacy issues

She also revealed that in the future, the Housing Department will use technology to combat abuse of public housing, including detection and sensing technologies, and will also cooperate with other professional departments in investigations, but will not disclose the means by which the Housing Department combats abuse to prevent the tenants concerned from taking early precautions. However, she also pointed out that the use of technology related to the privacy of residents depends on the society’s support for combating the abuse of public housing, especially when it involves crime. If the society supports it, more different technologies and means will be used. Among the 2,200 units recovered last year to combat abuse of public housing, the Housing Department stated that most of them were cases of breach of lease terms and abuse of public housing. Among them, there were about hundreds of vacant units. There were relatively few cases where residents owned private properties. few. From 2018/19 to 2021/22, the Housing Department reviewed approximately 238,000 income and asset declaration forms of public housing tenants on average each year, but only conducted in-depth investigations into no less than 6,000 cases each year, and was criticized for having a low rate of spot checks. Regarding whether there will be more manpower and an increase in the proportion of random inspection declarations, Luo Shupei said that it will be handled with existing manpower.

Legislative Council Member of the Practical Roundtable Tian Beichen said that the Housing Department does not need to wait for public housing tenants to declare their properties before investigating whether they have properties. It can use big data technology to immediately check the properties of public housing tenants in Hong Kong. “I asked the Privacy Office, does it matter? It will violate privacy. Every day, there is public (information) about what people bought and sold. Using big data, you can check what you bought (after the public housing tenants move in) and what you sold can be traced back.” . He also pointed out that increasing the proportion of spot checks can improve the deterrent effect, but he understood that it was difficult for the HD to increase manpower. He suggested that if the results of the first batch of spot checks showed serious abuse, it would increase manpower and increase the proportion of spot checks. Leung Man-kwong, deputy chairman of the Legislative Council’s Housing Affairs Committee, said that the current random inspection ratio is effective, and even if the number of applications is increased, he believes that the existing manpower can still absorb it. Regarding the temporary inability to investigate overseas and mainland properties, Liang Wenguang described it as “the reality that there is no solution”, but urged the Housing Department to establish a mechanism with the mainland to allow the mainland authorities to inquire about the property information of public housing households in the mainland for suspicious cases.

The original article was published on AM730

2023-10-05 23:00:33
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