Housing Authority to pass on rates concession to tenants
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The Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) will pass on the rates concession for the first and second quarters of 2026-27, as set out in the Budget Speech of the Financial Secretary in February this year, to its domestic and non-domestic tenants, starting from April 2026.
"The Subsidised Housing Committee and Commercial Properties Committee of the HA endorsed that, on a 'no-loss-no-gain' principle, the rates concession for the first and second quarters of 2026-27 will be passed on to the public rental housing domestic and non-domestic properties tenants (excluding carpark users) respectively. The Housing Department will pass on the rates concession to its domestic and non-domestic tenants on a monthly basis over a six-month period from April 1 to September 30, 2026, subject to a ceiling of $500 per quarter," a spokesman for the HA said today (March 30).
The rates concession passing-on arrangement will apply to all domestic and non-domestic tenants including interim housing licensees, and the operators of the 18 Single-Operator Markets will also pass on the rates concession to their licensees. For tenancies that do not cover the entire month, the amount of the rates concession will be made on a pro-rata basis.
"Given the small amount of rates concession to individual carpark users and the significant administrative costs involved for its distribution, the Commercial Properties Committee endorsed that carparks will be excluded from this exercise in line with previous rates concession exercises," the spokesman said.
The maximum total amount of rates concession to be passed on to domestic and non-domestic tenants by the HA is estimated to be about $807 million and $9.1 million respectively. The domestic and non-domestic tenants of HA will be individually notified of the detailed arrangements by the Housing Department.
Ends/Monday, March 30, 2026
Issued at HKT 15:30
Issued at HKT 15:30
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