“Pilot Programme on Community Living Room” - To Kwa Wan Community Living Room Project

Target Beneficiaries and Eligibility Criteria

Households shall meet the following 3 criteria to enjoy the basic services and facilities1 offered under the Project free of charge:

  • Residing in a SDU in Kowloon City district;
  • Meeting the income requirements [Please refer to the details of income requirements (Notes) and
  • Having at least 1 household member being a Hong Kong resident.

 1 To ensure effective use of resources, ASP will charge fees for certain services (e.g. self-service laundry) on a nominalor cost-recovery basis.

Application Procedures

The eligible applicant/household2 shall apply for membership from ASP during the implementation period of the Project. They shall submit a completed “Membership Application Form” to ASP for vetting, along with the following required documents:

  • Proof of identification of the applicant and the core family member(s) residing with the applicant in Hong Kong (“relevant family member(s)”) (if applicable) (copy); and
  • Proof of residential address of the applicant/household;and
  • A valid documentary proof that the applicant/household is currently benefitting/has benefitted from the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (“CSSA”) Scheme in any one of the 3 months prior to the submission of application (copy) (if applicable); or
  • A valid documentary proof that the applicant/household is currently benefitting/has benefitted from Old Age Living Allowance under the Social Security Allowance Scheme in any one of the 3 months prior to the submission of application (copy) (if applicable); or
  • A valid documentary proof that the applicant/household has benefitted from the Working Family Allowance Scheme in the 12 months prior to the submission of application (copy) (if applicable);or
  • A valid documentary proof that the applicant/household is currently benefitting/has benefittedfrom the student financial assistance schemes (including the School Textbook Assistance Scheme/Student Travel Subsidy Scheme/Subsidy Scheme for Internet Access Charges) in the school year prior to the submission of application (copy) (if applicable); or
  • A valid documentary proof that the applicant/household is currently benefitting/has benefitted from the Kindergarten and Child-care Centre Fee Remission Scheme at any time during the school year prior to the submission of application (copy) (if applicable).
  • Low-income families who are not recipients of the aforementioned 5 existing government assistance schemes shall report monthly household income and retain relevant proof of household income to facilitate random checking by ASP.

Application Approval

  • Upon receiving the application forms, ASP will contact the applicant/household for an interview and review the relevant documents.
  • After completing the approval process, ASP will inform the applicant/household about the approval result and issue membership card(s) to facilitate their utilisation of the services and facilities.
  • Members have to apply to ASP for annual renewal. ASP will review the eligibility of the applicant(s)/household. Those who remain eligible will be issued renewed membership cards for use in the new year.

Responsibilities of the Applicant

  • The applicant and relevant family member(s) shall thoroughly review Part 4 (“Declaration and Undertaking by the Applicant”) of the “Membership Application Form” and sign to acknowledge before submitting the application. In addition, the information provided by the applicant must be true, accurate and complete. If there are any changes to the relevant information, they should report them to ASP as soon as possible.
  • ASP will conduct random checks on beneficiaries to verify the eligibility of the applicant and relevant family member(s). The applicant and relevant family member(s) are required to provide detailed income and other related information to ASP for random check. If they fail to provide the required information, or if ASP determines upon review that they have violated the eligibility requirements for the Project, the ASP reserves the right to disqualify their applications.
  • The applicants/households are required to participate in questionnaire surveys and evaluation studies of the Project conducted by SWD/ASP.

2A household only needs to nominate one family member as the applicant.


Note: Income requirements of the Project are set out below:
(a)The applicant/household is currently benefitting/has benefitted from the CSSA Scheme in any one of the 3 months prior to the submission of application; or
(b)The applicant/household is currently benefitting/has benefitted from Old Age Living Allowance under the Social Security Allowance Scheme in any one of the 3 months prior to the submission of application; or
(c)The applicant/household has benefitted from the Working Family Allowance Scheme in the 12 months prior to the submission of application; or
(d)The applicant/household is currently benefitting/has benefitted from the student financial assistance schemes (including the School Textbook Assistance Scheme/Student Travel Subsidy Scheme/Subsidy Scheme for Internet Access Charges) in the school year prior to the submission of application; or
(e)The applicant/household is currently benefitting/has benefitted from the Kindergarten and Child-care Centre Fee Remission Scheme at any time during the school year prior to the submission of application.
(f)For those who are not benefitting from (a) - (e) above, their income is subject to a limit of not exceeding 75% of the Median Monthly Domestic Household Income (MMDHI)(non-asset-tested). Please refer to the table below for the relevant income limits:

No. of Household Members

Monthly Household Income Limit ($)

(Set based on 75% of MMDHI (Q2 2023) in the Quarterly Report on

General Household Survey published by the Census and Statistics Department)

1

8,300

2

15,800

3

26,200

4

35,300

5

46,600

6

46,200

7 or more

59,200




For the purposes of the Project, “family” generally refers to the applicant and relevant family member(s), including spouse, dependent family members (i.e. individuals aged under 18; individuals aged 18 to 25 receiving full-time education; disabled adult family members receiving disability allowances; or CSSA recipients who are 100% disabled or require constant attendance) and parents/grandparents (with or without income), etc. living together with the applicant. The applicant or at least one of the relevant family member(s) must be a Hong Kong resident. The monthly household income refers to
the income for the month or the average for the 3 months prior to the submission of application, whichever is lower. [Income not paid on a monthly basis (e.g. double pay, bonuses, contract gratuities, etc.) should be apportioned for the relevant period)]. Income includes the following items:
1. Employment earnings: salaries, double pay/leave pay, work allowances, bonuses/prizes/commissions/tips/contract gratuities, income from rendering services and business profits, etc.
2. Other income: financial assistance from offspring and relatives/friends, alimonies, monthly pensions/widows’ and orphans’ payments or pensions, investment profits, interest income from fixed deposits, dividends and rental income, etc.
Income excludes mandatory contributions to the Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) Scheme made by employees (i.e. 5% of MPF contributions by an employee), financial assistance provided by the Government, charitable donations, and allowances/subsidies from other assistance programmes under CCF, etc.