Hong Kong internet sensations “Mr and Mrs Ho” will have to return a public housing flat to the government if they continue to live there without registering him as a household member, authorities have said.
Housing authorities launched an investigation after the whirlwind romance and marriage between 76-year-old Hongkonger Mr Ho and a 43-year-old mainland Chinese woman became the talk of the town in May.
The couple, who were living in a public flat, flaunted their wealth, including a Rolex watch and a diamond ring said to cost more than HK$200,000 (US$26,000), on a television programme.
Their story triggered suspicions over their eligibility for public housing, with Mr Ho later found to not be a registered tenant of the flat so he should not have been living there.
Mrs Ho, meanwhile, only moved into the flat recently and had not been included in a government asset declaration drive launched in April.
“The Housing Department has repeatedly reminded the tenant that if she needs to allow a non-household member to reside in the public housing unit, she must promptly apply to have his name added to the tenancy,” it said in a reply to the Post on Tuesday.
“The department will otherwise take action according to the terms of the tenancy agreement … but no application has been received yet.”
Tenants of public rental flats can apply to add their spouse to the tenancy after filling in an application form and income and asset declaration statement.
If a tenant continues to allow a non-household member to live in the flat, the authorities will consider terminating the tenancy.
The investigation was part of a wider initiative by the authorities against cheats who lied about their assets to qualify for public flats.
Apart from requiring tenants to make income and asset declarations every two years, the government has also been watching out for expensive vehicles in public housing estate car parks.
The government also reached out to mainland Chinese authorities to look into their potential ownership of property across the border.
Director of Housing Rosanna Law Shuk-pui said in early August that about 5,000 public flats had been taken back over the past two years from “well-off tenants”, equivalent to a medium-sized estate.
Tenants of another 12 flats also had to return their homes after they were found to own properties on the mainland or in Macau that were above the authorised asset limit.
The Post has approached Mrs Ho for comment.
