Subdivided rent management｜Seven major loopholes still exist in group approval. Subdivided households: rent increase during empty window period is painful

The second reading of the bill regulating the rent of subdivided houses will be resumed in the Legislative Council today (20th). It is expected that it will be passed the third reading as soon as possible.

Some groups concerned about subdivided housing have criticized that there are seven major loopholes in the regulations, which fail to protect the rights and interests of subdivided households at the grassroots level, making the regulations useless, including unregulated initial rent, failure to clarify the owner’s maintenance responsibilities, and insufficient renewal period To protect sub-divided tenants who are waiting for public housing, and urge the government to plug the loopholes.

The Hong Kong Concerned Subdivided Housing Platform held a press conference this afternoon and pointed out that there are seven major loopholes in the subdivided rent management regulations, including a "window period" of several months before implementation in January next year and no initial rent.

(Photo by Lin Yingxian)

The Hong Kong concerned about the subdivided housing platform described that the government’s introduction of rent control is the first step to bring the injustice of the subdivided housing market to the fore. However, the platform has pointed out multiple loopholes in the rent control regulations for months, and the government only considered increasing the maximum rent by 15%. Decrease to 10%, turning a deaf ear to other demands.

Subdivided households: the owner requires a longer period before the regulations come into effect

The group pointed out that there are seven major loopholes in the subdivided rent management regulations, including that the regulations can only be implemented at the end of this year or January next year at the earliest. There was a "window period" of several months before, and leases signed during this period are not regulated by the regulations. Fewer tenants have reported that the landlord has requested to sign a longer-term and more expensive lease with the tenant before the regulations come into effect.

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The ordinance also stipulates that as long as the landlord and the tenant live together, the subletting of the bedroom is not restricted by the ordinance. The group criticized this as a "gray area" and allowed unscrupulous landlords to circumvent the law on the grounds of "live together".

The sub-tenant’s tenancy period is also subject to "superior leasing" and "source leasing." If the relevant lease ends earlier, the landlord can end the sub-tenant’s lease at any time. The lease is converted to sub-lease, and the sub-household tenants are driven away.

Approval and Evaluation Department only 50-member team difficult to deal with sub-house rental disputes

The whole Hong Kong concerned about subdivided housing platforms also criticized that the regulations did not establish initial rents and clarified the owners’ maintenance responsibilities as soon as possible, and the "2+2" priority renewal rights set the first year of the second lease term as a "dead agreement". "It causes inconvenience to families who are waiting for public housing.

They also questioned that the Evaluation Department had only set up a new team of about 50 people, and questioned that the authorities simply did not have enough staff to deal with the tenancy disputes of 100,000 subdivided houses.

Subdivided rent management | Concerned groups: 20% of subdivided households have increased their rent, and some households have paid nearly 10,000 yuan monthly rent. Subdivided rent management | Subdivided households have been subject to a 10% increase in rent by the owner. The group approval capping mechanism is 5% off the ground. Rent control | 15% capping mechanism is too high and the government concessions to lower the rent renewal ceiling to 10% sub-rent control | Some tenants were raised by 30% at the beginning of the year

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