Housing Department to recover overpaid cash allowances and cancel public rental housing applications of applicant households making false statements
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"Twenty-six PRH General Applicant (GA) households under the Scheme earlier declared that they were eligible for public housing allocation when filling out the application forms and related forms. Subsequent investigations by the HD revealed that the declarations made by the applicants concerned did not conform to the facts, including instances where their total monthly income and/or total net asset value exceeded the relevant limits set by the Hong Kong Housing Authority for PRH applications, or they concealed their ownership of domestic properties or related interests in Hong Kong. The HD has taken further action against these applicant households, including the cessation of cash allowance disbursements, recovery of any overpaid amounts of allowances, and cancellation of their PRH applications. The HD also referred the cases to the Police for follow-up, and the applicants may be liable to prosecution for making false statements/declarations or for providing false documents," a spokesman of the HD said.
"All applicant households under the Scheme should provide true and correct information. Applicant households should also notify the HD immediately if there is any change in their family circumstances during the period of receiving the cash allowance. Deliberate provision of false information or omission of information with a view to obtaining the cash allowance by deception is a criminal offence. Other than returning any overpaid amount of cash allowance, offenders are liable to prosecution and a maximum penalty of 14 years' imprisonment. In addition, applicant households' PRH applications will be cancelled," the spokesman added.
The HD launched the Scheme in late June 2021. Under the Scheme, the Government provides a cash allowance to eligible GA households who are not living in public housing, not receiving Comprehensive Social Security Assistance, and have been waiting for PRH for more than three years but have not yet been offered the first PRH allocation in order to relieve the pressure on their livelihood.
Ends/Tuesday, November 1, 2022
Issued at HKT 14:00
Issued at HKT 14:00
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