Hong Kong public flat now a gym? Tenants can be jailed for abusing system

Hong Kong public housing tenants who turn their flats into beauty parlours, gyms or short-term rental properties could end up being jailed for up to a year for “serious abuse” of resources under a government proposal.

Cleresa Wong Pie-yue, who chairs a Housing Authority committee, gave the examples on Wednesday, confirming a Post report over the proposed legal changes.

Wong said authorities would set out varying levels of severity for breaches, noting that cases involving residents who vacated their flats to generate profit might constitute “serious abuse”.

“We have seen cases in which flats are turned into tutorial centres, gyms or storage sites – all of which are considered commercial activities … as well as subletting the flat or using it for Airbnb,” she told a radio programme.

“If the tenants still live there and use the space to make crafts for sale, or do private tutoring, we do not think this will come under the definition of ‘serious abuse’ of public housing.”

Under the proposed legal changes, which will be submitted to lawmakers for discussion next month and may take effect before the middle of next year, dividing a public flat and subletting the space to other tenants or using it for commercial purposes would be classified as serious abuse.