China News Service, Hong Kong, October 20 (Reporter Zeng Ping) The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passed the "Landlords and Tenants (Consolidation) (Amendment) Bill 2021" in the third reading on the 20th, establishing a number of protection "partitioned buildings" ( Commonly known as "subdivided housing") rent control measures for the rights and interests of tenants.
The new law will come into force at the expiry of 3 months from the day it was published in the Gazette.
On October 20, the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passed the "Landlord and Tenant (Consolidation) (Amendment) Bill 2021" in its third reading. Business control measures.
The picture shows Members of the Legislative Council voting on the third reading.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Li Zhihua
The findings of a survey conducted by an agency commissioned by the Hong Kong Subdivided Rental Control Research Working Group showed that there are about 110,000 subdivided houses in Hong Kong, providing accommodation for more than 226,000 people.
The median floor area per capita of subdivided households is 6.6 square meters.
The median monthly rent for subdivided houses is 4800 yuan (HK$, the same below), and the median monthly rent per square meter is 417 yuan.
In 2020, the median monthly income of subdivided households is 15,000 yuan, that is, about one-third of their monthly income is used to pay rent.
According to the newly revised ordinance, the owner and the tenant must sign a written lease agreement that sets out the rights and responsibilities of both parties; the tenant will receive a 4-year tenancy protection, and the lease term is fixed at 2 years. Rent reductions cannot be increased; the rent increase at the time of renewal must refer to the changes in the private residential property rent index compiled and published by the Rating and Valuation Department, and the upper limit is 10% every two years.
In addition, the landlord must not overcharge the tenants for utilities such as water and electricity.
The Secretary for Transport and Housing of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, Chen Fan, said that he believes that the implementation of the new law can achieve the policy goal of providing reasonable and effective protection for sub-house tenants.
He said that the fundamental way to solve the subdivided housing problem is to continue to increase the supply of land and housing. The SAR government will continue to adopt a multi-pronged approach to actively seek land to build houses and improve the living environment of the people.
Chen Fan said that the passage of the bill is only the first step. The SAR government will review the effectiveness of the subdivided rent control measures in due course and consider further measures when necessary.
He expects that the new law will be implemented in late January next year.
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