'Sub-divided Flat Tenants Given Too Much Say'

A landlord group says it is “unreasonable” for a government task force to suggest that only sub-divided flat tenants should have the say on when to terminate a lease in the first four years.

The task force has proposed that tenants should get to decide whether they want to renew a contract once after the initial lease expires after a fixed period of two years.

But Shea Hing-wan, who heads the Hong Kong Owners Club, told an RTHK programme on Thursday that there should be a one-year period for landlords to get to know their tenants, and to end the contract if there are any issues.

He added that they should also be able to get back the flats early if they want to rent them out to relatives.

However, the Subdivided Flats Concerning Platform's convenor, Tang Po-shan, dismissed criticism that the proposal is unfair to landlords, saying it is only right to offer more protection to tenants, who have little bargaining power in the housing market.

Tang said he had hoped that tenants could secure their flats for six years, because many of them are queuing up for a public rental flat, which currently involves an average waiting time of 5.7 years.

William Leung, the chairman of the task force, said half of the tenants the panel surveyed had lived in sub-divided flats for two years, and a guaranteed four-year tenancy period would be sufficient to see them allocated a public housing flat.

Speaking on the same programme, he admitted that their proposal could take away some flexibility for landlords, but added that they could still evict tenants for bad behaviour like taking part in illegal activities.

Leung said the task force hoped to "right the wrongs" after learning that some landlords don't sign a contract with their tenants, and increase rents "every time they meet them".

He stressed that although the task force suggested a rent hike cap of 15 percent, the actual percentage will be determined by changes in the private domestic rents index.

"Let us look at the figures this way. We have a mutually agreed rent in the first year... and we can raise it at the end of first year, second year and third year, right? If we divide the maximum figure [of rent hikes] of 15 percent by three, there's only a five percent increase every year," he said.