Hong Kong began implementing on Tuesday new measures to curb tenancy abuses in the city’s public rental housing (PRH), including making unauthorized letting a crime.

The new measures that took effect under the Housing (Amendment) Ordinance 2025 seek to fight abuses more effectively and ensure the prudent use of public housing resources, according to a Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government statement.

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The new measures include introducing new criminal offenses that constitute "serious tenancy abuse” such as unauthorized letting, occupation, or the use for trade or business of PRH flats.

The ordinance also empowers authorized officers to demand personal information from suspicious individuals or trespassers and extends the prosecution time limit for offenses involving false statements, refusal to furnish information and unlawful alienations.

 ''The Hong Kong Housing Authority keeps on enhancing its policies to ensure that public housing resources are targeted to those in greatest need,” Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho Wing-yin was quoted as saying in the statement.

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“The Housing (Amendment) Ordinance 2025 demonstrates the steadfast commitment of the government and the HA to making good use of public housing resources, combining legislative and administrative measures to tackle serious abuse."

As of the first quarter of 2025, there were around 871,000 PRH flats in Hong Kong, housing 2.13 million residents or about a third of the city’s population, according to data from the Housing Bureau.