Applications opened on 28 September 2026 for two subsidised-housing schemes: a 3,000-place pilot allowing eligible owners to rent out subsidised-sale units whose premiums have not been paid to white-form applicants, and a home-swap scheme for elderly owners. The Hong Kong Housing Society is handling the administration for both schemes.
Under the white-form rental pilot, an owner must have held the subsidised-sale unit for at least 10 years and must pay a rental-permission fee. The tenant must meet the latest 2025 Home Ownership Scheme income and asset limits, and must not have owned any Hong Kong residential property at any time from 24 months before the application date until the white-form tenant certificate is issued.
Both the owner and tenant pay a HK$400 application fee. The permission fee is collected quarterly and is calculated from average rents for specified classes of private housing, adjusted through the scheme’s subsidised formula. For a unit of about 35 square metres, or 376 square feet, provisional first-quarter estimates put the average monthly fee at HK$3,500 on Hong Kong Island, HK$3,115 in Kowloon and HK$2,310 in the New Territories. The amount varies with the property’s size and the formula used.
An elderly owner of an eligible subsidised-sale unit whose premium has not been paid may sell it on the secondary market without paying the premium and then buy a smaller or more remote subsidised-sale unit on that market. All owners and registered family members must be at least 60, the original unit must have been held for at least 10 years, and the owners and all registered family members must not have owned any other Hong Kong residential property from 24 months before the application date until the date the provisional sale-and-purchase agreement for the replacement unit is signed.
The original owner must obtain a transaction permit before selling. The listed charges are HK$500 for the transaction permit, HK$1,000 for the certificate of availability for sale and HK$900 for the purchase qualification certificate.
Forms and guidance for both schemes are available online or from the Hong Kong Housing Society application office at Dragon Centre. White-form rental applications can be submitted online, by post or in person. Home-swap applications must be submitted in person or by post.