Source: Hong Kong Information Services
Chief Executive John Lee will depart for Beijing tomorrow to attend the opening meeting of the fourth session of the 14th National People’s Congress on March 5.
Mr Lee will return to Hong Kong on March 5. During his absence, Chief Secretary Chan Kwok-ki will be Acting Chief Executive.
Source: Hong Kong Information Services
The Transport Department announced today that online appointment bookings for “direct issue” of the Hong Kong Full Driving License will be fully implemented from March 16.
The service will be expanded from the Admiralty office to all four licensing offices, with total daily booking slots increased to 550.
New booking slots from March 16 to April 10 will be opened in batches from March 10 to 13.
The department reminded the public that all applicants must reserve an appointment for “direct issue” counter services via the designated online appointment booking system and submit their applications at the assigned licensing office.
Same-day ticketing for these services will be discontinued on March 16. However, any “direct issue” counter services secured through the online system before this date will remain in effect.
Furthermore, the 24-hour telephone booking service at 3763 8080 will stop providing appointments for “direct issue’ counter services once the online system is fully implemented.
Click here for further information.
Source: Hong Kong Information Services
Nominations for the Leisure & Cultural Services Department’s Young Astronaut Training Camp 2026 will open for local secondary schools from tomorrow until March 31.
Now in its 15th edition, the free nine-day camp will take place from July 23 to 31. Selected participants will experience astronaut training on the Mainland to learn about space science, astronomy and China’s aerospace achievements.
The itinerary includes visits to key aerospace and astronomy facilities such as Beijing Aerospace City, the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center and the Xinglong Observatory of the National Astronomical Observatories. Participants will also engage in astronaut training activities and have the opportunity to meet astronauts and aerospace experts.
The training camp will admit a maximum of 30 participants. Applicants must be local full-time students aged 12 or above, currently enrolled in Secondary 2 to 6 for the 2025-26 academic year. Each secondary school may nominate up to two students.
The three rounds of selection will include a quiz, pre-camp training and an interview. Candidates with the most outstanding performance will be selected to join the camp.
The Hong Kong Space Museum will hold a briefing session on the afternoon of March 17.
Source: Hong Kong Information Services
The enquiry hotline for Wang Fuk Court’s long-term housing arrangements commenced operation today. Members of the public may call 2129 8133 for information regarding the plan announced on February 21, under which affected owners may choose from several options.
These include the Government acquiring titles from flat owners for cash, a “flat-for-flat” arrangement, and the reservation of units under the Home Ownership Scheme (HOS), the Green Form Subsidised Home Ownership Scheme, or Housing Society projects. Owners who have sold their titles will be given priority to purchase these reserved flats.
The plan also involves the construction of new HOS flats at Chung Nga Road West in Tai Po to provide additional options for those affected.
To assist Wang Fuk Court owners in understanding the specific options available under the housing plan, the Government has established a cross-departmental engagement team co-ordinated by the Housing Bureau.
Beginning this week, the team will contact owners through the “one social worker per household” service. Owners may also contact the specific team members assigned to their household via the same mechanism.
For easy identification, engagement team members will wear light blue vests and carry identification cards. Owners are advised not to disclose personal information to strangers without a referral made under the “one social worker per household” service.
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
Determined to tackle issue of substandard subdivided units with Basic Housing Unit regime opens for registration today
Under the Basic Housing Units Ordinance (Cap. 658), a new regime (i.e. the BHU regime) for the letting of SDUs in residential buildings is rolled out in phases starting from today. From today onwards, the Dedicated Team on Subdivided Units of the Housing Bureau (HB) begins to accept applications for registration of pre-existing SDUs, as well as applications for BHU recognition of SDUs complying with minimum standards of living conditions. The 48-month transitional arrangements (i.e. until February 28, 2030) under the BHU regime allow reasonable time for SDU owners/operators to gradually adapt to the statutory requirements. Meanwhile, the criminal offence of illegal letting of SDUs with no registration and no recognition will only come into effect 12 months after the commencement of the Ordinance (i.e. March 1, 2027).
A Government spokesman stressed that with accumulation of the issue of substandard SDUs over the years, it had come to a critical point and there had been undisputed consensus in the community that grass-root SDU tenants should have a safe, hygienic and reasonable living environment. The Government has always accorded top priority to the well-being of SDU tenants and will implement the BHU regime in an orderly and steady manner, focusing on registration in the first year and commencing enforcement in the second year, instead of taking immediate enforcement action in one go.
During the first year of the implementation of the new regime (i.e. from today until February 28, 2027), the HB primarily motivates owners of pre-existing SDUs to submit their registration applications as soon as possible in order to obtain a 36-month grace period (i.e. from March 1, 2027, to February 28, 2030) for more time in arranging their tenancies and alteration works in a flexible and people-oriented manner. The application procedure for grace-period registration is simple and no application fee will be charged. Such 48-month arrangements of registration and grace-period provide owners/operators with reasonable time to carry out necessary alteration works and submit recognition applications. Pre-existing SDUs, regardless of whether they comply with the minimum standards of living conditions or not, are welcome to apply for registration for free to obtain the grace period.
Starting from the second year of the implementation of the new regime (i.e. upon the expiry of the registration period, from March 1, 2027, onwards), the HB will adopt a pragmatic, people-oriented and risk-based approach when taking enforcement actions in a reasonable, compassionate and orderly manner against illegal letting of SDUs with no registration and no recognition, so as to ensure that SDU households will not be displaced due to relevant enforcement actions.
The HB, through its six District Service Teams (DSTs) covering various regions of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories, will assist affected households in need in finding alternative accommodations (including SDUs that have obtained BHU recognition) in the private market for relocation, and flexibly co-ordinate other housing resources (such as transitional housing (TH), Hostels for Single Persons, interim housing and transit centres) to provide temporary shelters for them. Contact details of these six DSTs are at Note 1. The HB will continue to closely monitor the SDU rental market. For those potential situations where SDU owners and tenants may need to discuss their rental arrangements for various reasons, the six DSTs under HB have geared up to render immediate assistance to affected tenants. At the same time, the DSTs will continue to reach out to SDU households through street counters, home visits, seminars, briefing sessions, etc, providing them with comprehensive and suitable support, such as handling enquiries, referring suspected cases of contravening the SDU tenancy control to the Rating and Valuation Department, assisting SDU households in need to apply for traditional public rental housing (PRH), Light Public Housing, TH, or find other accommodations, etc. On the road to eradicating substandard SDUs, the HB will make utmost efforts to support affected grassroots tenants in improving their living conditions.
In tandem with the implementation of the new regime, the HB has created a new type of Category C tenants for TH since October 2025, to allow SDU households affected by alteration works or enforcement actions under the BHU regime with imminent short-term rehousing needs to apply for TH. Applicants for Category C tenants need not be persons currently waiting for traditional PRH, and they can be exempted from meeting the prevailing income/asset limits for TH. For information on application for TH, please visit the HB’s website (www.hb.gov.hk/eng/policy/housing/policy/transitional/tenantapplications.html
Under the BHU regime, SDUs must comply with minimum standards of living conditions (i.e. a total of eight aspects on minimum area, minimum height, fire safety, structural safety, separate toilet, water supply requirements, lighting and ventilation, as well as separate water and electricity meters) and obtain BHU recognition before they can be legally let out for habitation in the future, so as to ensure a safe, hygienic and reasonable living environment. In this connection, the HB has issued the Code of Practice on the Minimum Standards of Living Conditions for Basic Housing Units, which sets out in detail how SDUs can comply with the various requirements of minimum standards to obtain BHU recognition, thereby providing clear guidance for owners/operators and the industry practitioners. To encourage SDU owners/operators to submit registration and recognition applications as early as possible, the Government provides “early-bird” reduction/waiver on application fees for recognition, i.e. no application fee will be charged for SDUs with early registration/application (Note 2).
The relevant application forms of registration and recognition, application guide, Code of Practice, etc, have been uploaded to the BHU thematic website (www.bhu.gov.hk/eng
For enquiries, please call 3611 0248, send email to bhu@hb.gov.hk
In addition, in accordance with the Ordinance, the Chief Executive, appointed members of the relevant appeal panel for a period of three years starting from today, to deal with appeals lodged against the decisions made by the Secretary for Housing as specified under section 53(1) of the Ordinance (such as refusal of registration/recognition application and cancellation of registration/recognition). The membership of the appeal panel is set out in the Annex.
Note 1: Contact details of the six DSTs are as follow:
Non-government organisations hkitcsu.nha@gmail.comytmcfla.sub@gmail.com sdu@hkspa.org.hk sdu@nha.org.hk ntwtpsitcsu01@gmail.comsiadistrictserviceteam@gmail.comNote 2: Specific arrangements on reduction/waiver of application fees for recognition during the first three years of the roll-out of the BHU regime are as follows:
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