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The following is issued on behalf of the Office of The Ombudsman:
The Ombudsman, Ms Connie Lau, today (May 31) announced a direct investigation to examine whether the mechanism of the Housing Department (HD) for taking follow-up action against unauthorised alterations by public housing tenants in their units is adequate and effective.
Public housing units allocated to tenants by the HD are generally provided with various fixtures and facilities, such as partition walls, floor tiles, a shower tray, a cooking bench, fresh and flushing water mains and electrical wiring. Under the Tenancy Agreement, tenants are not allowed to remove any original fixtures or facilities in their units without prior written permission of the HD. Also, tenants must not damage, alter or tamper with any interior fixtures or other facilities.
The Office of The Ombudsman has found from past complaint cases that the HD has failed to properly follow up on cases involving unauthorised alterations. In one particular case, the serious violations occurred more than two years ago but still the tenants concerned have not reinstated the original set-up. Moreover, the Office has received complaints from public housing tenants about unauthorised alterations to the floor slab of the upper floor unit. As a result of such alterations, the waterproofing layer was damaged, causing water seepage at the ceiling of the complainants' units. However, the HD made little progress in following up on those cases and the problem persisted. Meanwhile, the complainants continued to suffer from seepage nuisance.
Ms Lau said, "The HD has clear regulations regarding what public housing tenants may do in decorating their units and altering fixtures and facilities. The purpose is to ensure structural safety of the buildings and to encourage tenants to make good use of the original fixtures and facilities. However, we have found in our investigation of some complaint cases that the HD had delayed its actions against unauthorised alterations that had seriously violated those regulations. This not only would mean encouraging unauthorised alterations but might also lead to further damage to the building structure and the altered fixtures and facilities, thereby adversely affecting other tenants. This would also be unfair to the law-abiding public housing tenants."
To gain a better understanding of problems caused by unauthorised alterations by public housing tenants, and the impacts of such problems on other tenants, The Ombudsman is now inviting members of the public to send their views in writing to the Office of The Ombudsman by July 4:
Address: 30/F, China Merchants Tower, Shun Tak Centre
168-200 Connaught Road Central, Hong Kong
Fax: 2882 8149
Email: complaints@ombudsman.hk
Ends/Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Issued at HKT 11:03
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