(To watch the video with sign language interpretation, click here.)

To alleviate the ongoing pressure faced by grassroots citizens from renting private property, Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced that the Government will provide a cash allowance to eligible households.

The allowance will be offered on a trial basis to those who have been waiting for public rental housing for more than three years and until they are offered the first public rental housing allocation.

In determining the cash allowance rate, reference will be made to the level at about half of the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance rent allowance ceiling.

The trial scheme is expected to be launched in the second half of 2021 with a review to be conducted three years after implementation.

More than 90,000 qualified households waiting for public rental housing for more than three years will benefit.

For non-Comprehensive Social Security Assistance low-income families who have not applied for or have been waiting for public rental housing for less than three years, the Government will set higher household monthly income limits under the Working Family Allowance Scheme so that they may receive a higher rate of allowance.

About 9,000 qualified households will benefit.

Mrs Lam also pointed out that an estimated 86,000 families have been living in subdivided units for a long time.

The Transport & Housing Bureau will set up a task force to study feasible options on tenancy control of subdivided units, she added.

Moreover, the Government announced it would further increase transitional housing by raising the three-year target to 15,000 units.

Of that amount, 2,000 units will be built on multiple government, institution or community sites that currently have no development schedule.

The Government's $5 billion dedicated funding, together with the Community Care Fund, will continue to provide the necessary resources for the construction of transitional housing.