Marking scheme in public housing in Hong Kong: An examination of its legitimacy and social impacts

The outbreak of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003 attracted the attention of the Hong Kong community towards the importance of living place quality. To improve the environmental hygiene in public housing estates in Hong Kong, the Housing Department launched the Marking Scheme for Tenancy Enforcement in Public Housing Estates immediately after the SARS epidemic. The marking scheme operates as a penalty-point system where sitting tenants will be expelled from their public housing units if they have received penalty points up to a certain level for their committed misdeeds. By its nature, the marking scheme is a measure to tackle anti-social behaviour (ASB) in the housing estates. Yet, the scheme is criticized for its unfairness in enforcement and deprivation of housing rights. For example, whether the misdeeds laid down in the marking scheme are all socially undesirable is doubtful. Besides, the household-based enforcement is not justified from the perspective of welfare contractualism. Moreover, no previous attempt has been made to investigate the impacts of the marking scheme. Against this background, this study aims to investigate the legitimacy of and the social impacts brought about by the marking scheme on the public housing tenants. Based on the research findings, recommendations are provided to public administrators regarding the fairness and transparency of the anti-social behaviour control in Hong Kong.