Category C tenants of transitional housing open for application
In tandem with the implementation of the Basic Housing Unit (BHU) regulatory regime, residents of subdivided units (SDUs) with imminent short-term rehousing needs can apply for transitional housing (TH) as Category C tenants. Category C tenants will be open for application from October 3, 2025.
"The Basic Housing Units Bill was passed by the Legislative Council at its third reading today (September 26). The Basic Housing Units Ordinance will be gazetted on October 3 and come into effect on March 1, 2026. In view of the implementation of the BHU regulatory regime starting from March 1, 2026, SDU residents may be affected due to the need for alteration works in SDUs for obtaining BHU recognition, or the enforcement actions carried out by the Government upon expiry of the 12-month registration period (i.e. from March 1, 2027). Some of these residents may not be able to identify suitable accommodation within a short period of time. If the residents concerned are eligible to apply for Light Public Housing or TH, the projects which are currently in operation and coming on stream can provide them with sufficient accommodation options. However, we understand that some residents may not fulfil the relevant prevailing application requirements, e.g. income/asset exceeding the limits. Therefore, we will create a new type of Category C tenants for TH starting from October 3, in order to provide assistance to those SDU residents affected by alteration works or enforcement actions under the BHU regulatory regime in future and have imminent short-term rehousing needs," a spokesman for the Housing Bureau (HB) said.
Applicants for Category C tenants can be exempted from meeting the prevailing income/asset limits for TH, but they still need to meet other eligibility requirements (including the applicants must be 18 years of age or above; the applicants and/or their family member(s) must be residing in Hong Kong and have the right to land in Hong Kong; and must not own or co-own or have an interest in any domestic property in Hong Kong/Chinese Mainland/overseas, etc). In addition, the applicant for Category C tenants and/or his/her family member(s) must have lived in SDUs consecutively for at least six months, and provide valid documentary proof for review by any of the six District Service Teams (DSTs) commissioned by the HB to prove their rehousing needs.
Apart from reviewing the applications for Category C tenants of TH from SDU residents in need, the six DSTs will also continue to promote SDU tenancy control and the future BHU regulatory regime at the district level, as well as to provide support to SDU residents. If needed, the relevant DSTs can be contacted through the following channels:
(based on District Council boundaries)
"The objective of creating Category C tenants for TH is to provide short-term accommodation for SDU residents in need before they identify suitable long-term accommodation. We anticipate that some Category C tenants may be able to identify suitable long-term accommodation soon after moving into TH (e.g. SDUs which have obtained BHU recognition upon completion of alteration works) and will not live in TH for a long time. Therefore, there will be a certain degree of flexibility in the tenancy for Category C tenants, which will be set on a monthly basis, with the shortest being one month and the longest generally not exceeding two years. A three-tier rental arrangement will be adopted for Category C tenants to prevent the precious housing resources from being abused. In short, Category C tenants shall pay the original rent of the TH project in the first 12 months of residence. Upon completion of the 12-month residence, they may apply for two extensions. For the first extension (i.e. 13th to 18th month of residence), upon assessment by the operating organisation, Category C tenants who are still in imminent rehousing need may be granted a six-month extension of lease, but they will be required to pay 1.5 times the rent. For the second extension (i.e. 19th to 24th month of residence), upon assessment by the operating organisation, Category C tenants who are still in imminent rehousing need may be granted a further six-month extension of lease, but they will be required to pay double rent. In addition, Category C tenants with residence of only one to six months may be required to pay an additional cleaning/administration fee to the relevant operating organisation, although this fee will not exceed half a month's rent for the relevant unit," the spokesman added.
Upon completion of review of Category C tenants by DSTs, applicants for Category C tenants can submit their applications through "TH-E" - Central and Unified Platform for TH via the HB's website; or complete the TH application form exclusively for Category C tenants and then upload it to the above-mentioned platform, or submit it by post (Task Force on Transitional Housing, Housing Bureau, P.O. Box 183, General Post Office), fax (3565 4382), email (thapp@hb.gov.hk), etc. The application form can be downloaded from the above-mentioned website or obtained from the DSTs.
For information on the application for TH, please visit the HB's website www.hb.gov.hk/eng/policy/housing/policy/transitional/tenantapplications.html. For any enquiries, please contact the Task Force on Transitional Housing under the HB (Tel: 3611 8156; email: thapp@hb.gov.hk).
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