Bring Back Tenancy Control For Needy: NGO

There are fresh calls for the government to bring back tenancy control to help ease the plight of low-income families hit by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

An NGO known as the Concerning Grassroots' Housing Alliance said on Monday that underprivileged groups in the city are facing a greater financial burden because of the outbreak, highlighting the need to put a lid on rents for sub-divided homes and offer rent subsidies for tenants.

The group said that a one-off subsidy being provided to low-income households which do not receive any government financial support and live in private housing won't benefit them much, unless it's being offered on a regular basis.

Despite their poor living conditions, many sub-divided units charge high rents, accounting for a big part of the earnings for low-income families.

Reporters at a press briefing on Monday heard from people about their grievances.

A woman surnamed Chan said she was fortunate that she is only paying about HK$3,000 a month for an 80-square-foot unit in Sham Shui Po, but she was worried that her landlord may soon be raising her rent.

She also said she has been waiting for a public housing unit for years now.

A single mother who lives in a sub-divided home of about 180 square feet with her two children said she pays more than HK$6,000 in rent, taking up about half of her monthly income.

She said she had spoken to her landlord about cutting the rent, but to no avail. "The landlord will just tell me, 'I can’t reduce it anymore, the best I can do at the moment would be to freeze the rent,'" she said.

And with all her children's expenses, she said she has trouble making ends meet.

Eunice Chan, a community organiser with the group, said it's time the government bring in tenancy-control measures that were cancelled some 16 years ago.

Chan told RTHK's Candice Wong that said the government should also set up a committee to discuss how rents should be set, and that this committee can involve those who are underprivileged, and that a government Task Force for the Study on Tenancy Control of Subdivided Units – which was announced in April – could do more to be transparent for instance by holding public forums in public areas as opposed to online.

The group also called on the government to consider providing cash subsidies to families that have applied for and are waiting to be allocated public housing.

It called on Chief Executive Carrie Lam to tackle the issue in her policy address next week.