Following is a question by the Hon Steven Ho and a written reply by the Secretary for Housing, Ms Winnie Ho, in the Legislative Council today (October 28):
 
Question:
 
     The regulatory regime on Basic Housing Units (BHUs) has been rolled out under the principle of "registration first, enforcement later" with 48-month transitional arrangements. There are views that many elderly landlords of subdivided units (SDUs) have only a superficial understanding of the registration and alteration requirements, coupled with market concerns about the reduction in flat supply and rehousing of tenants. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) of the total number of publicity briefing sessions targeting SDU landlords organised across the territory by the Dedicated Team on Subdivided Units of the Housing Bureau (HB) so far (with a breakdown by the 18 districts of the locations, number of sessions and estimated number of landlords reached); whether arrangements have been made for the District Services and Community Care Teams or District Offices in various districts to provide home visit support for elderly or mobility-impaired landlords (with a breakdown by the 18 districts of the number of beneficiaries, specific support arrangements and resources allocated);
 
(2) of the number of units (or the percentage in the total number) among the 100 000-odd SDUs in Hong Kong to be eliminated as estimated by the HB due to failure to obtain recognition or landlords ceasing operation; of the latest number of BHUs registered in Hong Kong as at September 2026, with a breakdown by the 18 districts;
 
(3) whether the HB has compiled statistics on the average cost and relevant data of converting SDUs into BHUs; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
 
(4) of the manpower to be deployed as well as the enforcement priorities and criteria when the HB formally commences enforcement actions in March 2027 against unauthorised letting of subdivided units with no grace-period registration and no recognition in force; of the estimated number of affected tenants who will need to be rehoused in temporary or transitional housing during the enforcement phase; whether it has assessed if the existing stock of Light Public Housing and transitional housing is sufficient to cope with a sudden surge in rehousing demand, and how it will mitigate the impact of such a surge in rehousing demand on the elderly and schoolchildren?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
     The current-term Government is determined to tackle the long-standing, big and difficult issue of substandard subdivided units (SDUs) in Hong Kong. Since taking office, the current-term Government has introduced a number of systematic housing policies and measures to significantly increase the public housing supply through proactively enhancing quantity, speed, efficiency and quality. Taking into account about 30 000 Light Public Housing (LPH) units, the total public housing production in Hong Kong in the coming five years (i.e. from 2026-27 to 2030-31) will reach about 196 000 units, which expedites the grassroots (including SDU households waiting for public housing) in moving into public housing, thereby enabling us to tackle the issue of substandard SDUs. To this end, the Chief Executive established the Task Force on Tackling the Issue of Subdivided Units (the Task Force) in 2023 for conducting an in-depth study and making recommendations on the comprehensive and orderly handling of the issue of substandard SDUs. Having considered the Task Force's recommendations, the Chief Executive announced in 2024 to put in place, through legislation, the Basic Housing Unit (BHU) regime, under which SDUs in residential buildings must comply with minimum standards of living conditions (minimum standards) and obtain BHU recognition before they can be legally let out for habitation, so as to ensure the provision of safe, hygienic and reasonable living conditions. The Basic Housing Units Ordinance (Cap. 658) (the Ordinance) was then passed by the Legislative Council in September 2025. The BHU regime has been rolled out since March 1, 2026 under the principle of "registration first, enforcement later", with applications for grace-period registration and BHU recognition being accepted concurrently in the first year and enforcement actions commencing in an orderly manner in the second year.
      
     The BHU regime provides a 48-month transitional arrangement, i.e. a 12-month registration period (until February 28, 2027) for pre-existing SDUs to obtain a 36-month grace period (until February 28, 2030) upon successful registration, allowing sufficient time for SDU owners/operators to gradually adapt to the statutory requirements and submit applications for BHU recognition. The new regime has been implemented for nearly eight months so far with satisfactory progress: the Housing Bureau (HB) has received registration applications involving more than 75 000 SDUs (i.e. more than 21 000 applications from residential flats), covering about 70 per cent of the total of about 110 000 SDUs in Hong Kong. At the same time, the HB has made on-going efforts in promoting applications for BHU recognition, and received recognition applications involving about 250 SDUs to date. Most of such applications were received in recent months, indicating that the market is familiarising with the minimum standards and accelerating the pace of alteration works for SDUs. Through the HB's proactive and flexible handling and guidance provided to applicants/professionals regarding the relevant statutory requirements, 53 SDUs have already been granted BHU recognition. These successful cases demonstrate that the minimum standards are practicable and feasible, and the market is willing to proactively comply with the BHU regime for compliant operation in the long run.
      
     The criminal offence of illegal letting of SDUs with no registration and no recognition under the BHU regime will only come into effect 12 months after the commencement of the regime (i.e. upon the expiry of the registration period, from March 1, 2027 onwards). By then, the HB will adopt a pragmatic, people-oriented and risk-based approach when taking enforcement actions against illegal letting of SDUs in a reasonable, compassionate and orderly manner, instead of taking immediate and indiscriminate enforcement actions, so as to ensure that SDU households will not be displaced due to relevant enforcement actions. The six Subdivided Unit District Service Teams (DSTs) engaged by the HB will continue to provide tenants in need with immediate and comprehensive support, including assisting in applying for traditional public rental housing (PRH), LPH, transitional housing (TH), Hostels for Single Persons, or finding alternative accommodation, so as to provide suitable shelters for them.
 
     The reply to the question raised by Hon Steven Ho is as follows:
 
(1) The HB attaches great importance to stakeholder engagement, so as to enhance understanding of the BHU regime by the public and stakeholders, and ensure its smooth implementation at the community level. The HB has all along been pressing ahead with relevant publicity and stakeholder engagement work to enable SDU owners/operators, tenants, as well as relevant professionals, estate agents, property management, renovation services industry and non-governmental organisations to understand the regulations, responsibilities, and rights under the BHU regime, and to encourage owners/operators to submit applications for registration and recognition early.
 
     Since the establishment of the Task Force, the Government has organised/joined more than 130 briefings/seminars/professional training/publicity activities/consultation meetings (more than 50 of which included SDU owners as target audience), explaining to and exchanging views with more than 9 000 participants. Through these activities, the Government continuously and extensively explains the policy direction for tackling the issue of substandard SDUs and the detailed arrangements of the BHU regime to different sectors of the community. These activities have penetrated different districts across Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and the New Territories and focused on districts with more SDUs, such as Yau Tsim Mong, Sham Shui Po, and Kowloon City, attracting participation by different stakeholders (including SDU owners from various districts).
 
     In addition, since the commencement of operation of the six DSTs in early 2022, they have been dedicated to providing comprehensive support to SDU owners/households (including the elderly and mobility impaired persons in need). These DSTs are required to visit no less than 6 000 SDU households annually based on the relevant performance indicator and provide necessary support. Also, the DSTs have all along maintained close liaison with the Home Affairs Department/the District Services and Community Care Teams to assist owners/households in need. Furthermore, the HB, together with the DSTs, has arranged form-filling workshops for SDU owners in need (including the elderly and mobility impaired persons), providing one-stop service from explaining the new regime, filling out registration forms to collecting forms on-site, and assisting relevant owners in submitting their applications under the BHU regime.
 
(2) Based on the results of the Task Force's consultancy study, out of the total of about 110 000 SDUs in Hong Kong, it is roughly estimated that about 30 per cent of SDUs have relatively poor living conditions and may require substantial alteration works to meet the minimum standards for BHUs; while the remaining about 70 per cent of SDUs should be able to meet the minimum standards upon minor alteration works. Given that relevant owners have been letting out SDUs, and that the aggregate rent received from several units subdivided from a single flat is higher than the rent of one whole flat, it is anticipated that there are still financial incentives for a considerable number of owners to continue to operate rental of SDUs in compliance with the requirements of the BHU regime. Furthermore, with the BHU regime setting clear, practicable and feasible minimum standards for the living conditions of SDUs, it is expected that new supply meeting these standards will progressively emerge in the market to meet the relevant rental demand.
 
     As mentioned above, the HB has received registration applications involving more than 75 000 SDUs, with about 13 400 (18 per cent), 49 100 (65 per cent) and 12 570 (17 per cent) SDUs located in Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories respectively; and the relevant distribution across all 18 districts of Hong Kong is set out in Annex. The current number of registration applications has covered about 70 per cent of all SDUs in Hong Kong. Such satisfactory progress shows that most SDU owners/operators are keen to be brought under the new regime in order to obtain a 36-month grace period first and then plan for the next steps of their flats. Apart from registration applications, there have been about 250 SDUs submitted applications for BHU recognition, of which 53 SDUs have successfully obtained BHU recognition, indicating that the market is gradually adapting to long-term compliant operation as per the requirements of the BHU regime.
 
     In view of the positive market response to the BHU regime, coupled with the 48-month transitional arrangement provided under the regime which allows sufficient time for SDU owners to carry out alteration works to comply with the statutory requirements, it is expected that the supply of rental SDUs will not reduce significantly in the short term.
 
(3) To help stakeholders understand the minimum standards for BHUs and the associated alteration costs, the HB took the initiative to launch two BHU showflats in Kowloon City in May 2026, demonstrating the actual feasibility of altering existing SDUs into BHUs meeting the minimum standards. The alteration works of the showflats took about three to four weeks to complete, with an average cost of some $25,000 to $50,000 for each SDU (excluding professional certification service fees) using plain and safe materials primarily while maintaining the original layout as far as possible. To date, the HB has arranged more than 50 tours to the showflats, with over 800 participants involving different stakeholders. Besides, in respect of SDUs that have successfully obtained BHU recognition, individual applicants/operators have publicly mentioned that the alteration costs of their SDUs were similar to those as estimated through the HB's showflats. While the alteration costs of the showflats and successful recognition cases could serve as indicative references, the HB does not collect alteration cost information for each recognition application. It is understandable that the quality of SDUs in the market varies, and the costs of relevant alteration works depend on factors such as the actual conditions of individual SDUs, the scope of works, the market positioning.
 
(4) With the commencement of enforcement actions against illegal letting of SDUs starting from March 1, 2027, the HB will not take immediate and indiscriminate enforcement actions; instead, a pragmatic, people-oriented and risk-based approach will be adopted when pressing ahead with enforcement actions in a reasonable, compassionate and orderly manner. In this regard, the factors that will be taken into account include: the extent to which the SDUs fall short of the minimum standards, such as whether serious safety problems are involved; the number of SDUs that falls short of the minimum standards in the building concerned; the conditions of the common area in the building where the SDUs are located; the supply of overall public housing (including LPH and TH). To this end, the HB will conduct inspection and take enforcement actions at target buildings identified with higher safety risks and in response to complaints received. It will also conduct joint operations with relevant departments to enhance deterrence. The HB will carefully examine the actual circumstances and evidence collected in each case of suspected illegal letting, and comprehensively consider appropriate follow-up actions in a reasonable and compassionate manner, including issuing warning letters and, if the evidence is sufficient, instigating prosecution. The HB's Dedicated Team on Subdivided Units is responsible for the aforementioned inspection and enforcement actions.
 
     In the course of the aforementioned inspection and enforcement actions, the DSTs will provide comprehensive support to affected households in need to ensure that they are provided with suitable shelters, including traditional PRH, LPH, TH, Hostels for Single Persons, or assist them in finding alternative accommodation. Particularly for LPH and TH, there are numerous projects that cover different areas in Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories available for applications by SDU households in need, thereby meeting different needs of the applicants for places of residence as far as possible where resources so permit. Besides, in tandem with the implementation of the BHU regime, and considering that some SDU households may not fulfil the application criteria for LPH or TH, the HB introduced in October 2025 a new type of "Category C tenants" for TH to provide assistance to SDU households who are affected by alteration works or enforcement actions under the BHU regime and have imminent short-term rehousing needs. Applicants for "Category C tenants" need not be persons currently waiting for traditional PRH, and can be exempted from meeting the prevailing income/asset limits for TH. Moreover, the HB has also reserved certain "reserved units" in TH projects in urban and extended urban areas for emergency use, providing emergency rehousing support for SDU households facing urgent housing needs (such as tenants who are forced to move out by their landlords and thus need to find temporary accommodation immediately). Since the implementation of the new regime, various types of temporary housing mentioned above have been able to accommodate SDU households with imminent short-term rehousing needs.
 
     To conclude, the HB will continue to promote and deepen the understanding of SDU tenants and owners/operators about the BHU regime through various channels at the district level, and proactively encourage owners/operators to submit registration/recognition applications as soon as possible. Meanwhile, the DSTs will continue to bridge the district level, providing precise and appropriate support to SDU owners/tenants in need. On the road to eradicating substandard SDUs, the HB will continue to accompany SDU tenants and assist them in improving the living conditions.

Ends/Wednesday, October 28, 2026
Issued at HKT 15:20

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