Amid intensified crackdowns on abuses of the public housing system, the Hong Kong Housing Society revealed there has been a significant surge in the number of cases of such abuse being reported, adding that it has reclaimed nearly 100 units from tenants that had misused the system over the past five years.

In the first half of the year, the society received 209 reports of abuse of the public housing system, nearly 2.5 times the number throughout 2023, reflecting the public's increased awareness of the need to crackdown on such abuses, Sanford Poon Yuen-fong, executive director of the Hong Kong Housing Society, said in a recent media interview.

He said the housing society has reclaimed 93 units from tenants who were abusing the system in the past five years, of which 80 percent had been abandoned and were reclaimed due to lease violations.

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The housing society, a nongovernmental organization, rents out more than 30,000 public housing units across 20 estates, accommodating 81,000 tenants.

In alignment with the government’s actions, the housing society has also intensified its efforts to combat public housing abuse over the past year, including establishing the Integrated Registration Information System (IRIS) with the Lands Department at the end of last year.

According to the IRIS, the government can verify whether a tenant owns property in Hong Kong by checking their Hong Kong identity card number.

Starting from April this year, the housing society has also expanded the “well-off tenant policies” to apply to all tenants who sign new leases, and requiring all new tenants to declare their income and assets.

Through spot checks and the IRIS mechanism, the society has identified a tenant who holds over 30 plots of land in Hong Kong, Poon said.

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He said that the case is still under investigation as the plots of land are situated in remote areas, adding that some agricultural plots for which land premiums have not been paid may not necessarily have a high value.

The housing society is also intensifying its training of frontline colleagues to teach them to watch out for any unregistered vehicles parked in housing-estate parking lots, Poon said.

Recently, the housing society observed that around 20 vehicles with dual license plates for both Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland were parked in monthly parking spaces at the society’s rented public housing estates. Poon said his team is investigating these cases.

Contact the writer at fangxue@chinadailyhk.com