Following is a question by the Hon Steven Ho and a written reply by the Acting Secretary for Housing, Mr Victor Tai, in the Legislative Council today (July 2):

Question:

     Under the existing system, applicants of the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) Scheme (excluding the Guangdong Scheme and the Fujian Scheme) and the Social Security Allowance (SSA) Scheme must satisfy the residence requirements and the permissible limits of absence from Hong Kong (absence limits). In addition, tenants of public rental housing (PRH) must continuously reside in the units. However, it is learnt that some people are still enjoying benefits such as old age allowances and PRH despite residing abroad. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) as it is learnt that while the Social Welfare Department only uses identity card numbers to verify CSSA and SSA recipients' travel records with the Immigration Department (ImmD), some people enter and exit Hong Kong with their passports in order to circumvent checks against the absence limits, taking advantage of the loophole in the absence of connection between travel records based on identity cards and those based on passports, whether the Government has investigated the veracity of the aforesaid situation; whether the Government has assessed the annual loss of public money arising from this loophole, and whether it has enhanced the verification mechanism to plug the loophole; if it has enhanced the verification mechanism, of the details (including the effectiveness of the enhanced mechanism); if not, the reasons for that;

(2) whether the Government has considered using biometric features (e.g. fingerprint and face) as the only proof of identification for travel records, so as to prevent individuals from taking advantage of the loophole in travel records mentioned in (1) to conceal the fact that they reside abroad; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(3) given that the Office of The Ombudsman mentioned a number of cases of "not retaining regular and continuous residence in the flats" in its report dated January this year on the direct investigation operation into the Government's work in combating abuse of public housing resources, what specific mechanisms it has currently put in place to monitor and prevent abuse of PRH by individuals residing abroad, and how the effectiveness of such mechanisms is assessed; as regards tenants who deliberately conceal their residence abroad in order to keep their PRH flats, what other legal measures the Government has put in place, apart from demanding surrender of the flats, to bring them to account, and whether it has assessed if such measures have sufficient deterrent effect; and

(4) given that all the principal tenants and household members in the multiple cases of "not retaining regular and continuous residence in the flats" mentioned in (3) reside outside Hong Kong, whether the Government has examined the reasons for not being able to uncover their abuse of PRH in time through their travel records back then; in order to combat abuse of PRH by tenants residing abroad, whether the Government has explored setting up an cross-departmental cooperation mechanism for the Housing Department, the Hong Kong Housing Society and ImmD to carry out data sharing, so as to enhance the procedure for accessing the records of PRH residents' stay in Hong Kong?

Reply:

President,

     In response to the question raised by Hon Steven Ho, in consultation with the Security Bureau and the Labour and Welfare Bureau, our reply is as follows:

(1) Applicants and recipients of the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) or the Social Security Allowance must meet the relevant residence requirements and other eligibility criteria, and are required to declare all travel documents and provide other relevant information to the Social Welfare Department (SWD). If applicants and recipients fail to provide all relevant documents or information truthfully, once such cases are found, the SWD will take follow-up actions and may refer the cases to the law enforcement department for handling if necessary. It is a criminal offence for an applicant and a recipient to deliberately provide false information or omit information in order to obtain cash assistance by deception. In addition to becoming ineligible for cash assistance, the applicant and the recipient may be liable on conviction to imprisonment for a maximum of 14 years under the Theft Ordinance (Cap. 210 of the Laws of Hong Kong).

     Besides, in accordance with the existing established mechanism, the Immigration Department (ImmD) provides, on a regular basis or upon request by the SWD, the travel records of applicants and recipients, including the travel records of these persons using their Hong Kong identity card, travel document issued by ImmD (including Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passports) and travel document issued by other countries/territories, to the SWD for verification of the compliance with the relevant residence requirements of the persons concerned.

(2) Section 5 of the Immigration Ordinance (Cap. 115) stipulates that individuals entering or leaving Hong Kong at immigration control points must present a valid travel document. When entering into or exiting from Hong Kong, Hong Kong residents may use their Hong Kong identity card or a valid travel document to complete immigration clearance at traditional counters at control points. Eligible holders of smart identity card may also use their smart identity cards or encrypted QR codes, together with fingerprint or facial recognition technology, for self-service immigration clearance at e-Channels.

     To implement effective immigration control, the ImmD adopts biometric recognition technologies (such as fingerprints and facial images) in its immigration control operations to verify the identity of individuals using Hong Kong identity card or travel document for entry into or exit from Hong Kong.

    Under the existing established mechanism, the immigration records of relevant individuals provided by the ImmD to the SWD and the Housing Department (HD) have already encompassed information related to Hong Kong identity cards, travel documents issued by the ImmD (including Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passports), and travel documents issued by other countries or regions. The information provided would facilitate verification by the relevant departments of whether the recipients continue to meet the eligibility criteria for receiving relevant social welfare benefits.

(3) and (4) The Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) has adopted multi-pronged approach to combat tenancy abuse of public rental housing (PRH). HD has all along addressed the issue of tenancy abuse through various means including daily estate management, routine home visits, random checks and in-depth investigations of suspected cases, as well as publicity and education. These efforts aim to reduce the chance of tenancy abuse of PRH, thereby expediting turnover of PRH flats and allowing those in genuine need of housing to move into PRH as soon as possible.

     To ensure the optimal use of PRH resources, the HD has established a regular mechanism with Immd, under which Immd regularly reports the death records of PRH tenants to the HD so that the HD can proactively monitor tenants' occupancy status and take appropriate actions. The Immd also provides travel records of relevant individuals (such as PRH principal tenants and household members) upon request by the HD, with a view to enabling the HD to verify whether the individuals concerned continue to meet the eligibility criteria for residing in PRH.
 
     To strengthen the monitoring, the HD has set up a new computer system to store case information about tenancy abuse, including the processes and investigation results. Estate management staff also conducts unannounced home visits outside office hours. Investigations will be initiated, if there are suspected cases of PRH abuse or upon receipt of reports from the public on suspected cases of PRH abuse. The HD also selects cases on a random basis for in-depth investigation.

     In addition, to expedite the verification of occupancy status of tenancy abuse cases and enforcement actions, the HD liaises with other government departments to obtain key information in accordance with relevant ordinances and regulations (such as enquiry with the ImmD about the immigration records of tenants who are suspected of not retaining regular and continuous residence, enquiry with the Water Supplies Department about households with unusual water consumption, etc) so as to verify cases of tenancy abuse and accelerate the handling of such cases.

     In fact, since 2023, the HA has rolled out a series of new measures to strengthen efforts to combat tenancy abuse of PRH. Starting from October 2023, the HA requires all PRH households to declare their occupancy status and ownership of domestic property in Hong Kong every two years since admission to PRH. They are required to declare whether they have retained continuous residence in their units, and whether the units have been left vacant or used for unauthorised purposes. If households have made false statement, the HA will consider terminating the tenancy agreement. The family member(s) who has made false statement will be subject to the restrictions of a five-year debarment from applying for PRH, no offer of a PRH flat with better quality, and even prosecution. Since the introduction of the measures, some PRH tenants were sentenced to imprisonment of 30 days by the court, and some tenants have voluntarily returned their units. The HA is confident that these measures will continue to strengthen its efforts against tenancy abuse of PRH.

     To collect intelligence for better targeting in combating PRH abuse, the HA launched the "Report Public Housing Abuse Award" (the Award) in January 2025. Since the launch of the Award, as at end March 2025, out of the total reported cases of around 3 900, about 1 700 cases have opted for participating in the Award. After initial screening, about 1 200 reported cases were eligible for joining the Award, and about 700 of them can be further followed up. There are cases where Notice-To-Quit were successfully issued. The first round of the Award presentation will be held in July 2025. The above demonstrated that the public has established a strong consensus to combat PRH tenancy abuse and to collectively safeguard the precious housing resources.

     In order to cope with the extra workload brought by the enhanced efforts in combating PRH abuse, in recent years, the HA has strengthened its collaboration with various government departments and has adopted different strategies and manpower deployment as appropriate in light of changing circumstances. This includes recruiting retired disciplined services officers to join the HD. From July 2022 to May 2025, over 8 700 PRH flats were recovered by the HA in view of tenancy abuse or breach of tenancy agreement. Compared to the recovery of about 1 400 flats in 2021/22, the average annual number of PRH flats recovered due to tenancy abuse and breach of tenancy agreement from 2022/23 to 2024/25 has more than doubled. This demonstrated the effectiveness of the strengthened measures implemented by the HA.

     To strengthen the intensity of combating PRH abuse and enhance the deterrent effect, the Housing Bureau has submitted the Housing (Amendment) Bill 2025 (the Bill) to the Legislative Council, and the Bill was passed on June 11, 2025. The Bill mainly includes three aspects: (i) introducing new offenses of serious tenancy abuse of 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, thereby making measures against PRH abuse more deterrent. The relevant offenses will take effect from March 31, 2026. The HA will step up publicity efforts to ensure that the public fully understands and is aware of the consequences of violating the law.

     The HA/HD will continue to review the existing measures, including enhancing the investigation workflows and strengthening staff training, publicity and public education. We will also keep reviewing our strategies in combating PRH abuse and strengthening collaboration with other departments to safeguard the rational use of PRH resources.

     The Hong Kong Housing Society (HKHS) has also been adopting a multi-pronged approach in combating abuse of PRH resources holistically, including conducting home visits on a regular basis and prioritising investigation of suspected cases of non-occupation (such as those with relatively low water and electricity consumption, backlog of uncollected notices and letters in mailboxes for a prolonged period, etc). In addition, the HKHS has regularised conducting home visits during non-office hours and strengthened training for frontline staff to further enhance their awareness of and sensitivity to breaches of tenancy agreements. In addition, HKHS leverages smart technology to step up its efforts in combating PRH tenancy abuse, such as the in-house development of "eHome Visit". This digital platform digitises tenant information and home visit records to facilitate comparison, thereby allowing frontline staff to have a full picture during home visits and enabling prompt identification of suspicious cases. The HKHS will continue to keep pace with the times and regularly review the effectiveness of these measures, with additional initiatives introduced as and when necessary with a view to further enhancing the efficiency of home visits and the effectiveness of investigation of PRH tenancy abuse cases.

     The HKHS and the HA have maintained close communication and exchange on the efforts in combating abuse of PRH resources, and review and assess the effectiveness of the relevant measures from time to time. When tenants are suspected of not retaining regular and continuous residence in their units, the HKHS will request resident information such as travel records from ImmD depending on individual circumstances and investigation needs. Separately, the HKHS has since October 2005 established a notification mechanism with the ImmD on death records. Under this mechanism, the ImmD provides on a monthly basis records of persons who reside in rental estates of the HKHS yet with death registered in Hong Kong for the HKHS's suitable follow-up actions. The HKHS will continue to strengthen its communication with the ImmD to help enhance the effectiveness of investigations on PRH tenancy abuse.

Ends/Wednesday, July 2, 2025
Issued at HKT 15:45

NNNN