Murder Suspect's Homes Saga Prompts Govt Rethink

The Housing Bureau says it's looking into whether subsidised home rules need to be tightened amid reports a suspect in the murder of socialite Abby Choi bought a government-subsidised flat despite also owning a luxury property worth tens of millions.

Local media earlier reported that Choi's former father-in-law purchased a unit in Kwai Chung under the Green Form Subsidised Home Ownership Scheme for public flat tenants, even though he already had a high-end private flat in Ho Man Tin.

In Legco, Rountable lawmaker Michael Tien described the situation as "ridiculous" and said the government should proactively check if a subsidised housing applicant already owns property.

In response to legislators' concerns, Permanent Secretary for Housing Agnes Wong said she would not comment on specific cases, but the government does not vet the assets of green-form applicants.

"The principle is that if PRH [public rental housing] residents have the ability to afford flats, then they should do so as soon as possible, so that they can vacate the PRH flat as soon as possible," Wong said.

"But we have such an extreme case appeared...we are looking into whether or not we should tighten the regulations, perhaps we should review this further and discuss it with the Housing Authority."