Press Release

HKHS Sets to Fully Implement Well-off Tenants Policy  
Unifying Tenancy Management and Optimising Use of Public Housing Resources 

The Hong Kong Housing Society (HKHS) will soon issue letters to tenants concerned in phases to fully implement the “Well-off Tenants Policy” (WTP) through a simple three-step procedure – “Offer of a New Tenancy by HKHS”, “Acceptance of the Offer by Continuing to Pay Rent by the Tenant”, and “No Signature Requirement for the New Tenancy Agreement”.  The first batch of tenants will receive the new tenancy agreements containing WTP clauses next week.  The full implementation of WTP is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.

HKHS Director (Property Management) Sanford Poon said, “The full implementation of WTP is an important step in ensuring the effective use of public housing resources.  To unify tenancy management and for the principle of fairness, the Housing Society will gradually extend WTP to cover all the tenants in its rental estates.  This arrangement also aims to encourage residents with improved financial ability to move up the housing ladder and expedite the turnaround of public rental housing units, ensuring public housing resources are allocated in a rational manner to those with genuine needs.  Since April, the Housing Society has held over 220 resident briefings to explain the arrangement of replacing tenancy agreements.  Samples of the new tenancy agreement are also displayed on estates’ notice boards and each estate management office for residents’ reference.  We are pleased to see the positive feedback of the residents to the full implementation of WTP, which they find the three-step procedure easy and convenient.  The residents also generally support that financially capable tenants should pay higher rent or even surrender their flats.”

HKHS implemented the WTP in 2018 and enhanced the policy in 2024 to extend its coverage to all newly signed tenancy agreements, require more frequent declarations from tenants on domestic property ownership and continuous residence in their public housing units, and authorise HKHS to check and verify tenants’ information with government departments as well as public / private organisations.  Under the current WTP, tenants shall move out and return their units to HKHS should they own any domestic property in Hong Kong, or their total household income exceeds five times the HKHS’s prevailing application Waiting List Income Limit (WLIL) of rental estates, or if their total net household assets exceeding 100 times the HKHS’s prevailing application WLIL of rental estates.

HKHS will replace, in phases, the tenancy agreements of approximately 25,000 tenants who are yet bounded by WTP, based on the commencement date of their existing tenancy in chronological order.  The first phase will cover tenancy agreements commencing between 1 September 1964 and 16 February 1986 (excluding elderly households).  According to the three-step procedure, “Offer of a New Tenancy by HKHS”, “Acceptance of the Offer by Continuing to Pay Rent by the Tenant”, and “No Signature Requirement for the New Tenancy Agreement”, tenants will receive a set of documents from HKHS, including a notification letter about termination of the existing tenancy agreement, a new tenancy agreement with WTP clauses, and a reply slip for declining the new tenancy agreement being offered.  Tenants who accept the new tenancy agreement will simply have to continue to pay rent as usual, without the need to sign any documents.  Once rental payment is confirmed, HKHS will issue an acknowledgment letter to the tenant, and the new tenancy agreement will take effect immediately after termination of the existing tenancy agreement.  Acknowledging that elderly tenants may need more time to familiarise themselves with the latest arrangements, the elderly households (all household members aged 60 or above) will be the last to process commencing around mid-2026.

To help residents better understand the policy and related arrangements, HKHS has actively engaged stakeholders since late March.  To date, more than 220 resident briefings have been held, while promotional leaflets are distributed at rental estates.  HKHS has also set up a dedicated webpage on “Full Implementation of the WTP” and hotline (2401 1343), with promotion booths and service ambassadors stationed at each estate to answer residents’ questions.

The schedule for replacing tenancy agreement for general tenants (non-elderly households) is as follows.  For further details about WTP implementation and the schedule of tenancy agreement replacement for each phase, please click here to visit the dedicated webpage.

Planned Schedule for Tenancy Agreement Replacement (for Non-Elderly Households):

Remarks: The above schedule is subject to adjustment based on actual circumstances.