Table of Contents
| Basic information |
| address: Podium, Level 2, Hong Kong Housing Authority Customer Service Centre, 3 Wang Tau Hom South Road, Kowloon Telephone: 2712 2712 (24-hour hotline) Telephone: 2794 5134 (office hours) e-mail: hkha@housingauthority.gov.hk |
Applicants for the Express Housing Allocation Scheme can check the status of their applications by following the procedures below:
| 1 | Click on the "Electronic Services for Public Housing Application" quick link to enter the "Electronic Services for Public Housing Application" |
| 2. | The following is an optimized version that presents information in a clearer and more concise structure: Check the application progress of the Express Housing Allocation Scheme Prerequisites You must have registered for the "Electronic Housing Application Service" account. New User Registration Guide Don't have an account? Please click the "Login/Register" button in the upper right corner of the website to complete your registration immediately. After successful registration, you can log in to the system with your new account to check your progress. Old system user login method If you have used the "Public Rental Housing Applicant Electronic Services" before, please use your "Public Housing Application Number" and original password toFirst time login. It is recommended to update your password immediately after logging in to ensure account security. "Smart Convenience" user-exclusive channel Applicants who have registered for Smart Access can quickly log in to the mobile application for enquiries using their linked personal mobile number. Precautions All account information (such as application number, password) must be consistent with the information submitted when applying for public housing. If you encounter any technical problems, please call the Housing Authority hotline 2712 2712 for enquiries. (Optimization focus: layered title guidance, simplifying the process into step-by-step instructions, supplementing safety tips and contact information, and strengthening calls to action.) |
| 3. | After logging into your "Electronic Services for Public Housing Application" account, click "Check Public Housing Application Status". |
| 4. | 【Guidelines for Checking Application Progress of Express Housing Allocation Scheme】 Applicants who have successfully registered for the "Express Housing Allocation Scheme (2024)" can check the latest progress through the following methods: Progress Enquiry ➜ Please click here to log in to the "Express Housing Allocation Scheme (2024)" page to check the application review status and related notifications in real time. Unit Selection Service ➜ During the open unit selection period, the system will simultaneously update the "Real-time Available Unit List". Valid applicants can log in to the page at any time: Check the latest unit availability Get detailed unit information (including area/building age/unit type) Keep track of remaining quotas updated daily |
Highlights of the Express Housing Allocation Scheme
| 1. | Through the Express Housing Allocation Scheme, eligible public housing applicants will be given the opportunity to move into public housing flats early. | |
| 2. | The Express Housing Allocation Scheme is launched based on the availability of public housing resources and is conducted on a self-selected basis. Most of the flats available for selection under the scheme are public housing units which are less popular. There is no regional restriction when applicants select public housing units. However, they must select their own units from the list of available units based on the approved family size of their public housing application and the allocation criteria of individual units. | |
| 3. | As there are a large number of applicants for the Express Housing Allocation Scheme, but the number of flats available for selection is limited and unevenly distributed across the region,The Housing Department cannot guarantee that applicants will be invited to select a flat or will be successful in selecting a flat.. The Housing Department will only invite applicants to select flats if there are still suitable areas and/or flat types for applicants. | |
| 4. | After selecting a flat, if the applicant's eligibility for public housing has not been verified, the Housing Department will immediately arrange an interview date for the applicant for a detailed eligibility review. The interview will generally be arranged within one month from the date of flat selection. If an applicant (including an authorised person who selects a flat on behalf of the applicant) fails to make an appointment for a detailed eligibility screening interview on the spot, his/her application for the Express Housing Allocation Scheme will be cancelled immediately and the flat he/she has selected will not be reserved. Based on the principle of optimizing the use of public housing resources, the Housing Department will not consider applicants' (including authorised persons) requests to postpone the interview for more than two months after selecting a flat. Applicants and all family members aged 18 or above in the public housing application (if any) must attend in person on the agreed interview date and complete the relevant procedures. Otherwise, their application for the Express Housing Allocation Scheme will be cancelled and the selected flat will not be reserved. Applicants whose eligibility for public housing application has been verified will generally receive a "Notification Letter of Allocation" within about one month from the date of the notification letter on the verification of their eligibility for public housing application or the date of the "Undertaking Letter of Self-Choice of Flat" (whichever is the later). Applicants must go to the relevant housing estate office to complete the occupancy procedures on the date specified in the letter. Based on the principle of optimizing the use of public housing resources, the Housing Department will not consider applicants' requests for delayed issuance of the "Notification Letter for Housing Allocation". | |
| 5. | In order to optimize the use of public housing resources, if (i) an applicant voluntarily gives up the flat he/she has selected under the Express Housing Allocation Scheme; or (ii) the applicant and/or family members aged 18 or above in the PRH application (if any) fail to attend the detailed eligibility screening interview on the agreed date and/or fail to submit the required documents within the specified period to verify his/her PRH eligibility; or (iii) the applicant refuses to accept the allocation of the self-selected flat after his/her PRH eligibility is successfully verified and the "Notification of Allocation" is issued; or (iv) the applicant fails to go to the relevant estate office as agreed to sign the tenancy agreement for the self-selected flat without providing an acceptable reason, all such applications will be counted as one valid allocation.“Acceptable” reasons for refusing to accept a housing offer include: (i) the applicant has supporting documents issued by relevant organisations (e.g. the Hospital Authority) which clearly state that the applicant cannot accept the allocated PRH flat due to health reasons; (ii) the applicant has supporting documents issued by the Social Welfare Department/relevant organisations which clearly state that the applicant cannot accept the allocated PRH flat due to social reasons; and (iii) the applicant has documents to prove that he/she is unable to sign the tenancy agreement as scheduled due to reasons such as leaving Hong Kong or being hospitalised for treatment. | |
| 6. | Applicants who are not invited to attend the self-selection of flats, or who are invited but do not attend, or who fail to successfully select a flat during the self-selection process will not be counted as a valid allocation. If the applicant's public housing application is still valid, his/her application will not be affected in any way and will continue to be processed in accordance with the existing public housing application policies and procedures. | |
| 7. | The flats offered under the Express Housing Allocation Scheme are located in public housing estates in various districts. Some units are ideal in terms of environment, transportation, community services, shopping and medical facilities. Some units have been involved in unpleasant incidents, or the number of floors, orientation and even the design of the units are inferior. For example, the toilets in Po Tin Estate and Tin Yan Estate (Phase 1) in the New Territories are slightly smaller than those in other public housing units. | |
| 8. | Tenants who are willing to stay in a unit for an "effective vacancy period" of 12 months or more can enjoy a 50% rent reduction. The reduction period depends on the effective vacancy period of the unit (the "effective vacancy period" refers to the time the unit is normally available for rent, so it may be different from the actual vacancy period). During the concession period, tenants are not eligible to apply for the Housing Department’s rental assistance scheme. (Note: For recipients of the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance Scheme living in public housing who receive any rent waiver or rent reduction concession, the Social Welfare Department will not pay rent subsidy during the concession period or will only pay the rent actually payable after the rent reduction concession, subject to the relevant maximum rent subsidy amount. For further enquiries, please contact the relevant Social Security Field Unit.) | |
| 9. | "Cash Subsidy Pilot Scheme": If a PRH applicant has selected a flat for first PRH allocation through the "Express Housing Allocation Scheme" and is issued with a "Notification Letter for Reserved Self-selected Flat", regardless of whether he or she ultimately accepts the self-selected flat allocation, he or she will be regarded as having been allocated PRH for the first time (except for reasons for rejecting the flat offer determined as "acceptable" by the Housing Department in accordance with the established PRH allocation mechanism), and is therefore no longer eligible to apply for the "Cash Subsidy Pilot Scheme" (Pilot Scheme). If the PRH applicant is receiving a cash subsidy under the pilot scheme and eventually accepts the allocation of the self-selected flat, the cash subsidy will be paid until the end of the month in which the tenancy agreement for the flat is signed; if the PRH applicant ultimately rejects the allocation of the self-selected flat, the cash subsidy will be paid until the end of the month in which the flat is selected as stated in the “Notification Letter on Reserved Self-Selected Flat”. The Cash Allowance Office will suspend the payment of cash allowance starting from the calendar month following the month in which the flat was selected in the "Notification Letter on Reserved Flat Allocation". If the PRH applicant finally accepts the offer of the self-selected flat, the Cash Subsidy Office will reimburse the PRH applicant for the cash subsidy for the suspension period until the end of the month in which the tenancy agreement for the flat is signed. If the PRH applicants ultimately reject the allocation of the self-selected flat, their application for the cash subsidy will be terminated, and the cash subsidy received during the suspension period will not be reissued as they do not meet the eligibility criteria for the trial scheme. For further enquiries on the pilot scheme, please visit the pilot scheme website or contact the Cash Subsidy Office. | |
| 10. | "Minimal Public Housing": If a PRH applicant selects a flat for the first PRH allocation through this Scheme and is issued with a "Notification Letter of Reserved Self-selected Flat", he/she will be regarded as having been offered a PRH allocation for the first time regardless of whether he/she ultimately accepts or rejects the self-selected flat (except for reasons for rejecting the allocation that are determined as "acceptable" by the Housing Department in accordance with the established PRH allocation mechanism). The household will not be eligible to apply for basic public housing and its application for basic public housing will not be accepted or will be cancelled. For enquiries on application for minimalist public housing, please visit the Housing Bureau’s Minimalistic Public Housing website (www.hb.gov.hk/en/lph) or contact the Housing Bureau’s Minimalistic Public Housing Task Force Office through other channels. | |
| 11. | The Subsidized Housing Committee of the Housing Authority passed on 29 September 2005 that if the tenancy of a public rental housing tenant (including interim housing) is terminated and the tenant moves out of the flat without paying the outstanding rent, the former tenant and his/her family members who are 18 years of age or above at that time must settle all the outstanding rent/arrears before they can apply for a public rental housing flat again (only applicable to former tenants whose flats are taken back by the Department after 30 September 2005). If the PRH applicant participating in this Scheme is a family member of the former tenant/relevant tenant who is 18 years of age or above at the time, he must settle all past rent arrears/arrears before the date of attending the self-selected flat of this Scheme, otherwise he will not be able to participate in the self-selected flat process and his application to participate in this Scheme will be cancelled. | |
| 12. | If any applicant or family member in the public housing application is prohibited from applying for public housing due to the following reasons, he/she shall not participate in this scheme before the expiration of the prohibition period. If an applicant or his/her family members are prohibited from applying for public housing after the application deadline, their application for this scheme will be cancelled. (i) Former tenants whose tenancies of PRH flats were terminated by the Housing Authority on or after October 1, 2023 due to false representation, breach of tenancy terms, violation of the Estate Management Marking Scheme, etc., and their family members who were 18 years of age or above at the time of termination, will not be eligible to apply for PRH for five years from the day following the termination of the tenancy. As for former tenants whose public housing tenancy contracts were terminated by the Housing Authority between January 1, 2006 and September 30, 2023, and their family members who were 18 years old or above when the contract was terminated, they will not be eligible to apply for public housing for two years from the day after the contract was terminated. All the above restrictions also apply to former permit holders of public housing and interim housing and their family members. (ii) Former tenants whose rental estate flat tenancies are terminated by the Housing Society on or after 1 December 2023 due to false representation, breach of tenancy terms, etc., and their family members who are 18 years of age or above at the time of termination, will be ineligible to apply for public housing and rental estates for five years from the day following the termination of the tenancy. (iii) Applicants or their family members whose PRH applications have been cancelled by the Housing Authority on or after 1 October 2023 due to false statements or provision of false information when applying for PRH are not allowed to apply for PRH again within five years from the date of cancellation. (iv) Applicants or their family members whose rental estate applications were cancelled by the Housing Society on or after 1 December 2023 due to false statements or provision of false information when applying for rental estates are not allowed to apply for public housing and rental estates again within five years from the date of cancellation. | |
| 13. | Applicants who are allocated a public housing flat through the Express Flat Allocation Scheme and who apply using a Green Form to purchase a Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) flat sold by the Housing Authority or a subsidised sale flat project of the Hong Kong Housing Society (HKHS) (including surplus HOS flats and new HOS flats) within three years from the date on which the first lease of their public housing flat comes into effect, will be regarded as a White Form applicant when arranging the order of flat selection by the Housing Department/HKHS, and the flat purchased by them will also be counted within the quota for White Form applicants. After purchasing the flat, the applicant is no different from other Green Form applicants and must return the public housing flat to the Housing Authority. | |
| 14. | If an applicant is allocated a public housing flat through the Express Flat Allocation Scheme, he or she will not be eligible to apply for a Green Form Subsidized Home Ownership Scheme flat within three years from the date on which the first tenancy agreement for the public housing flat takes effect. | |
| 15. | Applicants accept the offer of a unit of their choice.Within three years from the effective date of the lease, the applicant and family members cannot request relocation.. In addition, applicants must sign a letter of commitment immediately after selecting a unit, promising not to request relocation within the first three years from the effective date of the lease of the selected unit. However, if there are any special circumstances confirmed by the relevant departments/organizations, or the relocation is due to reasons requested by the Housing Department, it may be handled on a case-by-case basis. | |
| 16. | If an applicant's eligibility for PRH has been verified and has reached the flat allocation stage in his/her original PRH application (except for frozen cases), participating in this "Express Flat Allocation Scheme" will not affect his/her chance of being allocated PRH in his/her original PRH application. During the period of participating in this scheme, applicants may receive a "Flat Allocation Notification Letter" issued based on the original public housing application (including the last allocation opportunity), inviting him/her to complete the public housing admission procedures. In this case, applicants must decide for themselves whether to accept the offer. If the applicant accepts the allocation and completes the housing allocation procedures, his/her application for the Express Housing Allocation Scheme will be cancelled; if the applicant rejects the allocation and still holds a valid allocation opportunity after rejecting the allocation, it will not affect his/her eligibility to apply for the Express Housing Allocation Scheme. For applicants who refuse the last offer, if their original public housing application is cancelled, their application under the Express Housing Allocation Scheme will also be cancelled. | |
| 17. | Based on the principle of making good use of public housing resources and subject to resource availability, if all eligible applicants under the Express Housing Allocation Scheme have been invited to attend the flat selection and there are still flats that have not been selected, the Housing Department will consider inviting eligible applicants who have not selected flats under the scheme again to select the remaining flats according to the priority order of self-selected flats. The Housing Department reserves all rights regarding the selection of flats. |
For enquiries, please call the Housing Authority hotline 2712 2712.
