Public housing tenants may be charged according to the consumer price index
The Housing Department is considering two new options in the way public housing rents are adjusted after being defeated in a judicial review earlier this year, it emerged yesterday.
One option is to use the consumer price index as the basis for adjusting rents because this is the best reflection of how people living in public housing spend their money and the easiest way to understand the economic situation, a Housing Department source said.
The other method is to refine the current system, which bases rents on the median income of tenants because this shows what people can afford.
The proposals will be discussed by members of the ad hoc committee on domestic rent policy under the Housing Authority during a meeting tomorrow.
The source admitted that adopting either proposal would force amendments to the current Housing Ordinance, which governs how the department charges rent in public housing.
But he said the government did not want to include specific details in the amendment because the department wanted to maintain its flexibility in setting rents.
