Tenants affected by Hong Kong’s proposed crackdown on subdivided flats will not be given priority for public housing allocation; A minister said the decision was aimed at stopping people moving into below-average homes to game the system.

Housing Minister Winnie Ho Wing-yin also said on Saturday that the government plans to start the legislative process next year to phase out houses smaller than 86 square meters without windows and independent toilets.

Appearing on a radio programme, the minister was asked whether authorities would introduce special regulations for tenants of apartments that fall below government standards.

“We will be very careful. There is a system in place to line up public rental housing and it has no direct connection to the subdivided flats issue or the new legislation,” Ho said.

“Otherwise, this will encourage people to move into the worst-case subdivided flats in the hope that they will be phased out. That won’t work because it will cause huge problems.”

The Minister also shared the average rent figures collected for subdivided flats across the city; The monthly cost in 2023 was around HK$5,500 (US$710).

The average rent is HK$6,700 for an apartment on Hong Kong Island, HK$5,100 for an apartment in Kowloon and HK$4,000 for an apartment in the New Territories, he said.