“This declaration form gives us the authority to share data with the relevant departments to verify the information,” Law said.
The personal data includes names, Hong Kong identity card numbers, contact numbers and property ownership information.
According to the form, the Housing Authority and Housing Department can retrieve information kept by government units such as the Lands Department, Transport Department, Company Registry, Immigration Department and Inland Revenue Department for verification purposes.
They can also access information from private bodies such as the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA), banks and other financial institutions.
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The authority enjoys similar powers to access information when checking the assets of tenants who have stayed in public housing for 10 years or more.
The 88,000 households targeted have rented public flats for between two and eight years. The remaining 807,000 households are expected to be included in different phases in the expanded declaration system until October 2025.
The authority will conduct checks on households that fail to submit the form by the deadline without a valid reason, to investigate if the flats have been left vacant, sublet or rented out, which might result in termination of the tenancy.
Under existing rules, tenants with private property must give up their rental flats. However, only those who have lived in public housing for 10 years and above have to declare their assets to authorities, leaving close to 300,000 households unmonitored.
“Tenants living in our public flats for between two and eight or nine years have never made this declaration. With this, we hope to crack down on those abusing the public housing system,” Law said.
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Tang Fung Shuk-yin, assistant director of estate management at the Housing Department, said 2,200 flats were confiscated last year over tenancy abuse, up from an average of 1,300 in previous years, after authorities ramped up efforts.
Common forms of abuse include leaving a flat vacant for long periods, not paying rent, subletting or renting out the home on Airbnb or using it for commercial purposes.
“This is our first time making a tally of how many tenants own property. From now on, when we conduct spot checks and find anyone violating a tenancy agreement and making a false statutory declaration, we can take action against them, which will hopefully deter others from doing the same,” Law said.
Those found making false declarations will have their flats taken from them, and upon conviction face a maximum penalty of six months’ jail and a HK$50,000 fine under the Criminal Procedure Ordinance.
Lawmaker Scott Leung Man-kwong, deputy chairman of the Legislative Council’s housing panel, said authorities would only access data for specific investigations.
“This does not mean the Housing Authority will upload everyone’s information into a database for sharing. For example, if needed they can check with the Inland Revenue Department how much a tenant is paying in tax and whether it matches with what they have declared,” he said.
Anthony Chiu Kwok-wai, executive director of the Federation of Public Housing Estates, said authorities were collecting the information to speed up investigations, and residents should not be too concerned about the misuse of data.
“Frankly, they don’t have enough manpower to go through everyone’s personal information. Having their tenants’ consent at hand makes it easier for them, while tenants also have a responsibility to declare accurate information,” he said.
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Stuart Hargreaves, an associate professor of law at Chinese University, said that since public housing was a scarce resource, it was a “legitimate goal” of the government to ensure it was allocated properly so it required access to such information.
“I don’t think this is particularly problematic from a privacy perspective,” Hargreaves said. “The collection of information is done with that purpose in mind and the individuals subject to the policy are given clear notice of the collection and informed of the reasons.”
Demands for more stringent requirements came after Kwong Kau, 65, the former father-in-law of slain model Abby Choi Tin-fung, was found to have owned a luxury home while buying a subsidised flat reportedly in his capacity as a public housing tenant.
Additional reporting by Connor Mycroft
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