The fifth householder to have been allotted more than 16 penalty points under the Marking Scheme for Tenancy Enforcement in Public Rental Housing Estates has voluntarily surrendered his flat, Deputy Director of Housing Lau Kai-hung says.

From July to October, the tenant was allotted 20 points for four counts of accumulating a large quantity of refuse or waste inside leased premises, creating an offensive smell and a hygiene nuisance. A notice-to-quit was issued to terminate his tenancy at the end of October. The tenant surrendered his flat shortly afterwards without lodging an appeal to the Appeal Panel.

He and his household moved into accommodation arranged by the Social Welfare Department.

Mr Lau stressed the marking scheme had achieved its deterrent effect, adding that strict enforcement measures would be taken against hygiene-related offenders.

Three more hygiene-related misdeeds will be included in the marking scheme from January 1 bringing the total number of misdeeds to 23.

At December 22, there were 2,915 households allotted points under the marking scheme. Of them, 65 households have accumulated 10 points or more due to two or more misdeeds. The households had been allotted an accumulated 4,123 points since the launch of the scheme in August 2003.