Authorities must crack down harder on wealthy residents abusing public housing rules to live in flats they do not need, Hong Kong’s leader has said after visiting Sha Tin to gauge views ahead of his policy address next month.
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Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu delivered the instructions on Saturday as he inspected a refurbished rental flat at Sha Kok Estate as part of efforts to better understand the Housing Department’s drive to combat misuse of the system.
He was accompanied by top officials including housing chief Winnie Ho Wing-yin, youth affairs minister Alice Mak Mei-kuen and welfare chief Chris Sun Yuk-han.
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Lee said the department had adopted a multipronged approach to combat tenancy abuse that included detection, investigation and improvement of policies targeting wealthy residents occupying the homes.
“Every time an abused public housing flat is recovered, it means a resident or family in need is given a chance to start a new life,” he wrote on his Facebook page. “I therefore instructed the Housing Bureau not to lower its guard and to continue to crack down on the abuse of public housing.”