The Housing Department said today (30th) that two public housing residents of Kwai Chung Village who were involved in a case of knowingly making false statements and neglecting to provide the details specified in the declaration form were sentenced to suspended prison terms by the court. His net worth exceeded the limit, and he was sentenced to seven days and 14 days in prison respectively (probation for 12 months), and a fine of $5,000 and $8,000 respectively.
The spokesman reminded all public housing tenants that they must declare their income and assets truthfully, otherwise they may violate the Housing Ordinance.
Two public housing residents in Kwai Chung Village.
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In the first case, a PRH resident living in Kwai Chung Estate declared that he did not own the property when he applied for a change of tenancy and a new tenancy agreement in May 2018.
Subsequent investigation revealed that the PRH resident owned a residential property at Yuen San Street, Yuen Long at the time of the incident, and was not eligible to apply for a new tenancy agreement.
The PRH resident was prosecuted for knowingly making false statements regarding his application for the grant of a new PRH tenancy, in contravention of Section 26(1)(c) of the Housing Ordinance. He was convicted today at the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts.
Taking into account that the fine alone did not reflect the seriousness of the case, the magistrate sentenced the defendant to imprisonment for seven days (suspended for 12 months) and a fine of $5,000.
The wealthy households hold a net property value of 2.5 million exceeding the asset limit
In the second case, another public housing resident living in Kwai Chung Village was required to pay 1.5 times the rent from 1 April 2021, commonly known as a "rich tenant in public housing".
When he applied for the payment of the original rent in April 2021 due to the decrease in household income, he declared that he did not own any residential property in Hong Kong and that his total household net assets did not exceed 100 times the current PRH income limit, namely $2.45 million .
Afterwards, investigation results revealed that he held 50% of the title of a residential property in Tseng Tau, Sai Kung, with a net asset value of $2.5 million, exceeding the relevant asset limit.
He was charged by the Housing Department with two charges for neglecting to provide the particulars specified in the return, in contravention of Section 27(a) of the Housing Ordinance.
The defendant was found guilty of both charges at West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts today.
The magistrate also believed that the fines alone failed to reflect the seriousness of the case, and sentenced the defendant to imprisonment for a total of 14 days (suspended for 12 months) and a total of $8,000 in fines.
The spokesman reminded all PRH households to truthfully declare their income and assets.
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A spokesman for the Housing Department reminds all PRH applicants that they will be convicted by the court for breaching Section 26(1)(c) of the Housing Ordinance, i.e. knowingly making false statements to the Hong Kong Housing Authority when applying for a PRH lease , the maximum penalty is a fine of $50,000 and imprisonment for six months, the relevant public housing application will be cancelled, and the PRH unit that has been occupied will also be repossessed by the Housing Department.
The spokesman also said that as the basis for rent determination and assessment of eligibility for renewal of public housing, households must fill in the income and asset declaration forms accurately.
Therefore, when providing the details specified in the declaration form to the Hong Kong Housing Authority, households should carefully read the contents of the income and assets declaration form and the instructions for filling in the form, and fill in the relevant information according to the specified method to calculate their income and assets.
Otherwise, the occupant may knowingly make a false statement, thereby violating Section 26(1)(a) of the Housing Ordinance (if convicted, the maximum penalty is a fine of $50,000 and imprisonment for six months); or by neglecting to provide Section 27(a) (if convicted, the maximum penalty is a fine of $25,000 and three months imprisonment).
The Housing Department will also recover the rent underpaid due to incorrect information from the tenants, and even take back the PRH flats they currently live in.
Housing Authority extends suspension of issuing eviction notices to PRH tenants for 6 months; PRH tenants with assets over 4.2 million over the limit are sentenced to six weeks in prison for neglecting to provide details The department inspected 90% of the units in the drainage management without any problems. The public housing tenant of Ping Shek Village concealed the value of the property in Tai Po and was sentenced to 14 days without probation.
