Gov’t introduces new housing bill

The bill will be taken up by the Legislative Council for first and second readings on 2 April.

The government has published the Housing (Amendment) Bill 2025 in the Gazette, aiming to boost measures against tenancy abuse (TA) and ensure prudent use of public housing resources.

The bill covers three key areas: (i) introducing new offences of serious TA of public rental housing (PRH) flats; (ii) empowering authorised officers to demand personal details from suspects; and (iii) extending the limitation of time for prosecution of offences of false statements, refusal to furnish information, and unlawful alienations to enhance the deterrent effect of measures in combating PRH abuse.

“In the two and a half years since July 2022, the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) has recovered around 7,000 flats on the grounds of abuse or breaches of tenancy terms,” said a spokesperson of the government.

“Under the proposal, the above three areas of legislative amendments will come into effect by the end of March next year,” the spokesperson added.

The bill will be taken up by the Legislative Council for first and second readings on 2 April.