Hong Kong Housing Society raises public housing rent by 2.85%

Rent for public housing under the Hong Kong Housing Society (HKHS) will increase by 2.85 per cent from October. Prosperous Garden in Yau Ma Tei. Photo: Hong Kong Housing Society. The HKHS said in a statement on Tuesday that the new rent will be effective from October 1 this year to September 30, 2028. For rental units falling into Group A, which caters to low-income families, the average monthly rent increase per household is about HK$73. Households with Group B units, for relatively higher income families, can expect to pay an average of HK$200 more a month. The rent in new estates that were completed in the past two years, which include Yue Ying Lau in Aberdeen, Eminence Tower 1 in Hung Shui Kiu, Sierra Tower in Fanling and Avis Tower (Tower 1) in Ngau Tau Kok, will remain unchanged. Kwun Tong Garden Estate. Photo: Hong Kong Housing Society. The HKHS is one of two providers of public rental housing in Hong Kong. It manages over 20 estates, consisting of over 32,600 units. The other provider, the Housing Authority, manages 195 estates with over 830,000 units. It announced a rent increase of 2.04 per cent last month, which will come into effect on October 1 for two years. The rent hike this year is significantly less than the previous one in 2024, when both providers raised rent by 10 per cent. The rent increases for the first three months, however, were waived for most households. Around 30 per cent of Hong Kong’s population live in public rental housing. Chief Executive John Lee said during his first policy address in 2022 that the city’s housing problem was one of his priorities. Safeguard press freedom; keep HKFP free for all readers by supporting our team Support HKFP | Policies & Ethics | Error/typo? | Contact | Newsletter | Transparency & Annual Report | Apps Make a one-off donation. Hillary Leung is a journalist at Hong Kong Free Press, where she reports on local politics and social issues, and assists with editing. Since joining in late 2021, she has covered the Covid-19 pandemic, political court cases including the 47 democrats national security trial, and challenges faced by minority communities. Born and raised in Hong Kong, Hillary completed her undergraduate degree in journalism and sociology at the University of Hong Kong. She worked at TIME Magazine in 2019, where she wrote about Asia and overnight US news before turning her focus to the protests that began that summer. At Coconuts Hong Kong, she covered general news and wrote features, including about a Black Lives Matter march that drew controversy amid the local pro-democracy movement and two sisters who were born to a domestic worker and lived undocumented for 30 years in Hong Kong. More by Hillary Leung