Some shifty Hongkongers have found a way to shimmy up the territory’s notoriously slippery real estate ladder by cheating the public housing system.
According to a report on Ej Insight, a university graduate recently revealed on social media that he got a public rental flat by pretending to be poor. His four rules to success are:
1 – Never sign a permanent employment contract. Instead, take on several part-time jobs at once
2 – Get paid cash-in-hand so your bank balance is always measly
3 – Apply for a public rental apartment as soon as you’re old enough (18)
4 – Never get your parents assets put in your name
According to writer Frank Chen, “The crux of the problem lies in a ‘means test’ that is neither a test nor a way to gauge an applicant’s ability to pay rent.”
In fact, any Hongkonger who seemingly earns HKD9,670 or less a month is eligible for the public rental scheme, while those who apply with an elderly family member will get priority in the government’s points quota system.
Speaking to the Hong Kong Economic Journal, the 25-year-old – who secured a 300-square-foot flat on Hong Kong Island three years after graduating, despite there being 255,800 applicants in the queue – admitted that his family is actually fairly well off.
Apparently he’s not the only one. Chen claims that other loophole exploiters track the progress of their application online and quit their jobs right before the means test.
But the end goal here is not to secure a subsidised rental flat, but to get ahead of the rest in the government’s Home Ownership Scheme, that sees public rental tenants given first dibs on owning hugely discounted flats.
According to Chen, of the 70,000 applicants on the public rental waiting list between the ages of 18 and 29, 45,000 have post-secondary or tertiary education.
Chairman of Hong Kong’s subsidised housing committee, Stanley Wong, has reportedly admitted that the group can do nothing about those cheating the system.
“It’s little surprise many younger prospective buyers are taking this route to home ownership at the expense of people with genuine housing needs,” says Chen.
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Some young Hongkongers advising others to make less money in order to qualify for public housing
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Photo: Wikimedia
