Homeowners Banned From Applying For Subsidised Flats

A Housing Authority committee on Wednesday passed a resolution to ban public housing tenants who already own a home from applying for a subsidised flat.

The change applies to "green form" applicants who live in public housing, aligning the rules with "white form" applicants who mustn't have owned or co-owned a flat in the past two years.

There have been calls to change the rule after reports that a suspect in the murder of a socialite earlier this year had bought a government-subsidised flat despite already owning a luxurious property.

The chair of the authority's subsidised housing committee, Cleresa Wong, said members who were present voted unanimously to pass the change, adding that green form applicants will now also be asked to make relevant asset declarations when they apply for a flat.

"The legal declaration means that [the applicant] cannot knowingly make false declarations. If it is proven that they knowingly and intentionally make false declarations or conceal something, that is something criminal," Wong, who's also a lawyer, said.

She said she doesn't think the rule change will affect the availability of public flats, saying this should affect only a small amount of people.

Wong also said the committee did not discuss reviewing the policy on well-off public housing tenants, but she said they may look into it later.