LCQ21: Rates concession measures for self-occupied properties of elderly
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Question:
There are views pointing out that when residing in their own tenements, elderly persons are required to pay rates quarterly even without rental income. Coupled with increasing building maintenance expenses, this significantly affects their willingness to age in place and their quality of life. Therefore, there have been suggestions that rates concessions or even rates exemptions should be provided for self-occupied properties of the elderly. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as it is learnt that the Rating and Valuation Department's database does not maintain the age information of ratepayers, resulting in the Government lacking data on the number of owner-occupiers aged 65 or above without rental income, whether the Government has plans to integrate existing data on taxes, rates and recipients of government welfare to make a comprehensive projection of the number of such elderly owner-occupiers, with a view to studying the introduction of relevant rates concession measures;
(2) whether the Government has studied the use of public funds or the provision of subsidies to assist elderly singletons and doubletons having financial difficulties who reside in self-owned properties in paying rates, or even the exemption of the relevant rates; if so, of the details; if not, whether it will consider implementing such measures under a pilot scheme; and
(3) given the inclusiveness of the rates concession measures in the past, whether the Government will consider introducing an eligibility-based rates concession mechanism specifically for self-occupied properties of the elderly, so as to better dovetail with the policy direction of encouraging ageing in place?
Reply:
President,
Rates is a tax levied on properties based on their rateable values. Rateable value is the estimated annual rental value of a property as at the designated valuation reference date, generally October 1 of each year, assuming that the property was then vacant and to let. The Rating and Valuation Department (RVD) reviews the rateable values of all properties in Hong Kong annually as the basis for determining the rates payable. Rates are payable quarterly to the RVD by ratepayers, who may be the property owner, tenant, occupier, or their agent. RVD does not maintain records of property owners and cannot make relevant inferences based on the information of ratepayers.
Rates has been one of the stable sources of government revenue. In 2024/25, the revenue from rates was around $32.7 billion. In the context of preparing for the Budget each year, the Government will carefully consider whether to grant one-off rates concessions, taking into account views from various sectors of society, the economic situation of Hong Kong, the burden on public finances and the needs of different sectors of the community. From 1997/98 to 2025/26, the Government has granted rates concessions on a total of 24 occasions to relieve the financial burden of ratepayers.
In granting rates concessions, the Government has all along been adopting an across-the-board policy for all ratepayers in order to maintain a simple, transparent and effectively administered rating system. Exempting self-occupied properties of elderly owners from rates, or introducing in this regard a qualification system on relevant ratepayers and self-occupied properties, will not only reduce the government revenue from rates but also complicate the rates concession mechanism. This includes requiring elderly owners to declare that their units qualify as self-occupied properties and to update the occupation status of their domestic properties in a timely manner. The elderly owners will also be required to keep relevant information and records to facilitate verification by RVD. RVD will need to review the relevant applications, conduct regular spot checks on approved properties to ascertain if they meet the relevant eligibility criteria, and follow up on suspected non-compliance cases to reduce the risk of abuse of such concession mechanism.
The relevant bureaux/departments of the Government already have various measures in place to provide support to elderly in need. Having considered the existing support measures to the elderly and the need to maintain a simple, transparent and effectively administered rating system, the Government has no plan to introduce rates concessions based on qualification.
Ends/Wednesday, January 21, 2026
Issued at HKT 11:10
Issued at HKT 11:10
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