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Appeal over public flats rent ruling

The Housing Authority says there is immense public interest in clarifying the verdict that it was in breach of the law

The Housing Authority will lodge an appeal with the top court to overturn a ruling that it had breached its duty by not reviewing rents to ensure they complied with limits under the Housing Ordinance.

The law says rents must not exceed 10 per cent of tenants' median household income.

Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands Michael Suen Ming-yeung said the authority was appealing against the ruling because it involved a matter of immense public interest. The unusual step of taking the case to the Court of Final Appeal, instead of to the Court of Appeal first, was aimed at saving costs and getting a speedy ruling, Mr Suen said.

He said the decision to appeal was not related to the authority's financial hardship, even though the ruling, if allowed to stand, will leave it facing claims of $4.5 billion from tenants who have been overcharged and will deprive the authority of $48.7 billion in rental revenue over the next decade.

The authority wanted one more opportunity to clarify some very important points, he said.

'It is about how to interpret rent reduction, the rent review mechanism and what we should do. It is not a problem of whether we will win in the end. Because this case involves immense public interest, it is necessary we get these points clarified,' said Mr Suen.

He said the court's draft order to lower the rent of the two tenants who brought the suit to below 10 per cent of their income were not acceptable.

Deputy housing director Kenneth Mak Ching-yu said: 'The authority decided that in the public interest, it has the responsibility to instruct its lawyers to lodge an appeal.'

Mr Mak sought to justify the claim of 'immense public interest' by citing the wide implications of the ruling for rent policy, the authority's finances and the future of the public housing programme.

Ng Leung-sing and Ng Shui-lai, the only authority members willing to speak after a three-hour, closed- door meeting of its board, expressed support for the decision.

It was not known whether members took a vote on whether to appeal, nor how many members agreed with the decision.

A dozen activists, including April Fifth Action Group member Leung Kwok-hung, staged a protest after learning the meeting would be closed to the public.

The lawyer for the two tenants, Albert Ho Chun-yan, who is also a legislative councillor, said he did not dispute the decision to appeal but was upset to learn its rent review would be suspended pending the final judgment. 'There is no reason why they can't go ahead with it [the rent review] while they are waiting to appeal the case.' Ho Choi-wan, one of the tenants who took the authority to court, was disappointed with the decision and said she could not understand why the authority refused to follow the court judgment and lower her rent and reimburse her for rent overpaid.

Public-housing activist Cheung Man-wai said she would encourage tenants to stop paying rent in protest at the decision to appeal.

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