Application for public rental housing

The Hong Kong Housing Authority (“HA”) maintains a public rental housing (PRH) application system to provide eligible applicants with Public Rental Housing (“PRH”).

According to Item 2.1 of the “Application Guide for Public Rental Housing” (Revised in November 2022) (“AGPRH”), all applicants for PRH have to fulfil the following general eligibility criteria:

1. The Applicant must be 18 years of age or above.
2. The Applicant and his/her family members must be residing in Hong Kong and have the right to land in Hong Kong without being subject to any conditions of stay (except for conditions concerning the limit of stay). Any persons who are not granted the right to land in Hong Kong cannot be included in the application.
3. All married persons listed on the application form must apply together with their spouses (except for persons who have applied to the court for a divorce, persons whose spouses have not been granted the right to land in Hong Kong or widowed persons).
4. At the time of allocation, at least half of the family members included in the application must have lived in Hong Kong for at least seven years, and all family members must still be living in Hong Kong. Under the following circumstances, all children under the age of 18 are deemed to have fulfilled the seven-year residence rule:
   (a) regardless of the children’s place of birth, one of the parents has lived in Hong Kong for seven years; or
   (b) the children were born in Hong Kong with their permanent resident status established.
5. From the date of completing the PRH application form to the date of signing the tenancy agreement of the PRH flat allocated in consequence of the application, the Applicant and his/her family members must not:
   (a) own or co-own or have an interest in any domestic property in Hong Kong (including a beneficiary of the estate of any deceased person which includes any domestic property in Hong Kong). Domestic property includes any domestic property in Hong Kong, uncompleted private domestic property, rooftop structure approved by the Building Authority, domestic building lots and Small House Grants approved by the Lands Department;
   (b) have entered into any agreement (including a provisional agreement) to purchase any domestic property in Hong Kong; or
   (c) hold more than 50% of shares in a company which owns, directly or through its subsidiaries, any domestic property in Hong Kong.
6. The total monthly household income and total household net asset value of the Applicant must not exceed the limits laid down by the HA. Such limits are subject to review annually.
7. Family members with flats under various subsidised home ownership schemes, such as the Home Ownership Scheme/Private Sector Participation Scheme, Mortgage Subsidy Scheme, Buy or Rent Option Scheme, Tenants Purchase Scheme, Home Purchase Loan Scheme and Home Assistance Loan Scheme are eligible for PRH application once their names have been deleted from the relevant records, subject to the fulfilment of the other PRH eligibility criteria.
8. Purchasers of flats under various subsidised home ownership schemes who rescinded the Agreement for Sale and Purchase before receiving any subsidised assistance are eligible for PRH application after the execution of the Cancellation Agreement, subject to the fulfilment of the other PRH eligibility criteria.
9. The above criteria are applicable to all the persons included in the application.