Hong Kong extends relocation allowance for transitional housing tenants by 2 years

Hong Kong authorities have extended a special allowance that helps cover relocation costs faced by transitional housing tenants for another two years.

Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho Wing-yin said on Wednesday that the pilot scheme, which was launched in 2023, would be renewed and the amount granted under the allowance would be increased by about 10 per cent due to the rising cost of living.

“Given that most of the transitional housing projects will continue to operate in the coming years to serve new tenants as the old ones move into public housing, and 2,700 additional units will be completed this year and next, the pilot scheme will be extended for two years until August 21, 2027, under the support of the Commission on Poverty,” she announced in a social media post.

The renewal period will start from Thursday, with the increased allowance to be introduced on the same day.

The government’s wider transitional housing plan was launched in 2020, with authorities subsidising the construction of the flats, which are operated by NGOs and available to low-income families who have waited for a public flat for at least three years.

Such homes are also available to those in urgent need who fulfil the scheme’s income and asset limits.

Ho said the government received 10,316 household applications for the allowance from August 2023 to July 2025, covering 18,675 residents.