Raise age limit for Hong Kong public housing tenants exempt from asset declaration to 65, government adviser suggests

A leading government adviser has urged authorities to raise the minimum age for Hong Kong public housing tenants exempt from declaring assets, pointing to the city’s growing elderly population.

Cleresa Wong Pie-yue, chairwoman of the Subsidised Housing Committee at the Housing Authority, on Monday said the age threshold for tenants spared from an income and asset assessment should be increased from 60 to 65.

“The current wait for public housing is 5.3 years but the city’s population is ageing quickly. If the exemption on households with all members aged 60 or above continues, it will have a huge impact on public housing turnover,” Wong told a radio programme.

But the authority, the city’s major public housing builder, said the government had to be careful to “strike the fine balance”. It added that it welcomed the views of interested parties.

“The proposal of postponing [the] age of exemption may render some households, which no longer have a steady income, ineligible to stay in their [public rental housing] units,” the spokeswoman said.

“After all, public housing policies seek to maintain social stability and we must take heed of the potential impacts on tenants in the course of [policymaking].”

The authority added that society had shown greater kindness and understanding of the needs of the elderly in the allocation of public resources. including housing.

Public flats at present house around 190,000 households with all members aged 60 or more, about a quarter of all tenants.