People who want to report illegal public housing use must gather information on their own and ensure their own safety as well as comply with the law, Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho said on Thursday.

The Report Public Housing Abuse Award scheme kicks off on Wednesday and informants can get rewards of up to HK$3,000.

The housing minister said authorities expect to receive 2,600 reports each year, with half of them having concrete evidence to back up their claims.

She was also asked on an RTHK radio programme whether she supports people making audio or video recordings as part of their investigations.

“In any event we have to ensure our own safety and follow the law, before we use our observations or other methods to get the information. A working group will follow up on the submitted information and see if such materials are useful. We have an assembly panel chaired by a directorate-ranked colleague, and government officials on the panel will make the final decision,” she said.

Ho stressed that existing Well-off Tenants Policies have been effective in tackling public housing abuse, as about 480,000 voluntary declarations were made since October 2023, with almost 6,000 tenants handing back their units.

“I think overall we just want people to stay alert. We don’t [want to] solely rely on the reward scheme [to tackle public housing misuse]. But we hope people understand public housing is a public resource. Many are on the wait list,” she said.

Meanwhile, Ho also disagreed the informant scheme would be a detriment to neighbourly relations, saying those who use public housing inappropriately, like subletting their units, should bear the responsibility for any disharmony.

She added that people have to provide their real name when reporting cases and be interviewed to avoid abusing the system.

Those who don’t want a cash reward can stay anonymous.