The Appeal Panel (Housing) (AP) is an independent statutory body established under section 7A of the Housing Ordinance (Cap. 283) to determine appeals lodged against the termination of lease agreements between the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) and its tenants.
The tenant may appeal to AP when a lease has been terminated under section 19(1)(a) or (aa) of the Housing Ordinance, or where a notice to quit has been given under section 19(1)(b) of the Housing Ordinance, not later than 15 days after the date on which service of the notice of termination was effected or notice to quit was given. If the tenant is unable to appeal by reason of ill-health, absence or other cause thought sufficient by the Chairman of AP, a person authorized under the lease to occupy the flat may, subject to the approval by the Chairman of AP, lodge an appeal on behalf of the tenant.
An appeal shall be in writing and shall state the grounds of the appeal. The tenant may submit the appeal by hand or by mail to the Appeal Panel (Housing) (Address: 33 Fat Kwong Street, Ho Man Tin, Kowloon, Hong Kong).
Important Notice: The notice of appeal must be lodged with the AP within the above-mentioned statutory 15-day period. The Court of Appeal of the High Court of Hong Kong has held that any failure to bring an appeal within the time limit would be an absolute bar to the appeal proceeding (CACV 426/2000, 8 December 2000). AP therefore has no legal power to allow any appeal lodged outside the time limit to proceed.
Note: If you choose to send your appeal documents by mail, please ensure your mail items bear sufficient postage and indicate the return addresses before posting to ensure proper delivery to the Appeal Panel. Underpaid mail items will be returned to the sender or disposed of by the Hongkong Post. The Appeal Panel will not accept late appeals.
For information about “Sufficient Postage Ensures Prompt Delivery”, please click on:
https://www.hongkongpost.hk/en/sending_mail/note/index.html
After the appeal is properly lodged with AP, a hearing will be arranged. A notice of hearing together with the summary of facts prepared by the HA will be issued to the appellant by registered post not less than 14 days before the date of hearing.
The appellant may appear in person at the hearing, or may be represented by a counsel, solicitor or any person authorized by him/her in writing. If an appellant will be represented at the hearing, he/she shall notify the AP Secretariat in writing the name of the person representing him/her and whether this representative is a counsel, solicitor or a person authorized in writing by the appellant. Such notice of representation should reach the AP Secretariat not less than 7 working days before the date of hearing.
Appeals are heard by appeal tribunals composed of three AP members, and one of them acts as the chairman.
The hearing of an appeal shall be in public except in special circumstances. Hearings are normally conducted in Cantonese. Simultaneous interpretation will be provided to the appellant if necessary.
The hearing is normally conducted in the following manner -
If an appellant does not appear and is not represented at a hearing of the appeal, the appeal tribunal may, if satisfied that the notice of hearing has been given to him/her –
In case of inclement weather (such as the hoisting of Tropical Cyclone Warning Signal or Rainstorm Warning Signal by the Hong Kong Observatory) during a hearing day, AP will handle the scheduled hearing according to the arrangements laid down in the relevant Notice (Typhoon & Rainstorm Warning Arrangements
).
An appeal tribunal, in determining an appeal against a termination –
The decision of the appeal tribunal shall be final.
The AP Secretariat will notify the appellant and HA in writing of the appeal tribunal's decision as soon as possible, normally within 14 days after the date of hearing.
Note: Members of the public may be admitted as visitors to observe the hearing. For enquiries and reservation, please contact the AP secretariat before the relevant hearing date (Tel: 2761 7252). Visitors are advised to read our House Rules.
Correspondence Address: 10/F, Block 2, Housing Authority Headquarters, 33 Fat Kwong Street, Homantin, Kowloon.
Telephone: 2761 7252
Facsimile: 2761 7100
