Which Hong Kong Tribunal Hears a Landlord-Tenant Dispute?

When a landlord-tenant dispute in Hong Kong ends up in front of a tribunal, most people's first instinct is "file at the Small Claims Tribunal." But a large share of landlord-tenant disputes simply aren't something the Small Claims Tribunal can decide. Recovering unpaid rent and getting a tenant to move out are two different things, heard at two different venues — and filing at the wrong one can mean weeks lost before you're sent back to start again.

This guide sets out, in one place, which Hong Kong forum hears a landlord-tenant dispute: what the Small Claims Tribunal, the Lands Tribunal, the District Court and the Court of First Instance each handle, their ceilings, roughly what filing costs, and what to do if you want both the tenant out and the money back. It's based on public information from the Hong Kong Judiciary — Hong Kong law only, nothing borrowed from another jurisdiction.

Which Hong Kong Tribunal Hears a Landlord-Tenant Dispute

Start with the core distinction: what outcome do you actually want — money, or possession.

• Recovering unpaid rent, a deposit dispute, utility charges, rates, or any other financial loss is a money claim, and belongs at the Small Claims Tribunal (HK$75,000 or below).
• Getting a tenant to move out — recovering possession of the unit — is a recovery of possession matter, and belongs at the Lands Tribunal.

These sound like they could be handled together. They can't. The Small Claims Tribunal explicitly does not accept claims for "recovery of possession of land" — even if you win the case outright, the Adjudicator has no power to order the tenant to leave. All they can decide is the money.

The Small Claims Tribunal: Money Only

The Small Claims Tribunal handles money claims not exceeding HK$75,000. The filing fee is tiered into four bands: HK$20 for claims up to $5,000; $40 for over $5,000 up to $25,000; $70 for over $25,000 up to $50,000; and $120 for over $50,000 up to $75,000. The procedure is simple and lawyers generally cannot represent either side, which is why it's the main route for landlords recovering unpaid rent, and tenants recovering a withheld deposit (for the full procedure, appeals and enforcement, see our Small Claims Tribunal filing guide).

But here's an assumption a lot of people get wrong: winning at the Small Claims Tribunal does not mean the tenant leaves. The Adjudicator can only rule on the money claim — the Tribunal has no jurisdiction over "recovery of possession of land." So if what you actually want is the unit back, and the unpaid rent is secondary, the Small Claims Tribunal was never the right venue in the first place.

There's also a practical rule worth knowing about the claim amount: you cannot split a claim exceeding HK$75,000 into several smaller cases to fit under the ceiling. But if your claim only slightly exceeds $75,000, you can choose to abandon the excess so the case still falls within the Tribunal's jurisdiction.

Getting Possession Back Means the Lands Tribunal

If what you want is for the tenant to move out and to recover possession of the unit, you need to file at the Lands Tribunal, not the Small Claims Tribunal.

The Lands Tribunal has jurisdiction to hear a landlord's application to recover possession of premises under the Landlord and Tenant (Consolidation) Ordinance (Cap. 7) or the common law. In the same application, beyond ordering recovery of possession, the Tribunal also has power to make orders for payment of rent and mesne profits, disposal of any property left behind by the tenant, and damages for breach of the tenancy or sub-tenancy — meaning possession and the related money claim can often be dealt with in a single application, without running two separate cases.

One thing worth flagging: the Lands Tribunal's fees are not a single flat figure. They're set out in a schedule under the Lands Tribunal (Fees) Rules (Cap. 17B), with the standard fee tables posted outside the Tribunal's Accounts Office — in other words, the fee depends on the type of application and form, and you should not assume it follows the Small Claims Tribunal's $20–$120 bands. Check with the registry, or the latest posted schedule, before filing.

Which Hong Kong Tribunal Hears a Landlord-Tenant Dispute: A Decision Table

What You Want	Where You File	Monetary Ceiling	Filing Fee (Approx.)
Recover money (unpaid rent, deposit, etc.)	Small Claims Tribunal	HK$75,000 or below	$20–$120 (tiered by claim amount)
Recover possession (get the tenant out)	Lands Tribunal	No monetary ceiling (not a money claim)	Set separately, per the Lands Tribunal (Fees) Rules schedule
Money claim (contract, quasi-contract or tort)	District Court	Over $75,000, up to $3,000,000	Set separately — see the District Court fee schedule
Money claim or other civil matter	Court of First Instance	Civil jurisdiction unlimited	Set separately — see the High Court fee schedule

Want Both Possession and the Money?

This is where most landlords get confused: if you want both the tenant out and the unpaid rent recovered, you typically need two separate applications — one at the Lands Tribunal for possession (which can include the related money orders in the same application), and, if there's a money claim left over that falls outside that application's scope, a separate application at the Small Claims Tribunal or another court.

In practice, many landlords file at the Lands Tribunal first, because the Tribunal already has the power to order rent, mesne profits and damages for breach of the tenancy alongside a possession order in the same case — there's usually no need to open a second one. The genuine two-application scenario more often happens the other way round: a landlord is already pursuing a money claim at the Small Claims Tribunal, then discovers the tenant simply won't leave, and has to separately file at the Lands Tribunal for possession. The earlier money claim doesn't become invalid just because the tenant moves out or you open a second case — service and follow-up just have to be handled under whichever venue's own procedure applies (for the practical mechanics of chasing the debt itself, see our rent-defaulter response guide).

What If the Claim Is Over $75,000?

If your financial loss already exceeds the Small Claims Tribunal's HK$75,000 ceiling, there are two further levels to know about:

• District Court: handles money claims founded on contract, quasi-contract or tort, where the amount exceeds HK$75,000 but does not exceed HK$3,000,000.
• Court of First Instance: civil jurisdiction is unlimited and can hear any civil matter; if your claim only slightly exceeds HK$3,000,000, you can consider abandoning the excess so the case can instead be heard at the District Court, where costs are generally lower.

Procedure and costs at both of these are considerably more complex than at the Small Claims Tribunal, and legal representation is typical. If you're not sure which level your claim actually falls into, or whether abandoning part of a claim makes sense for you, our filing assistance service can walk through the practical scope with you.

The Cost of Filing at the Wrong Venue

The most direct cost of filing at the wrong venue is time: the Small Claims Tribunal's first hearing is generally scheduled within 60 days of filing, and if you only discover at that point that the Tribunal has no jurisdiction over your claim — because what you actually wanted was possession — you effectively have to start over at the correct venue, and that 60 days is gone.

An even more common scenario: a landlord files purely to recover unpaid rent, assuming that winning will automatically get the tenant "removed" — only to end up holding a money judgment while the tenant simply stays put, and only then realises a separate application to the Lands Tribunal is needed to actually get possession back. Rather than discovering this the hard way, it's worth deciding upfront whether what you actually want is the money or the tenant gone, and filing at the correct venue from the start.

For Tenants: Where to Go Over a Deposit or Repairs

This guide has mostly been written from the landlord's side, but tenants face the same "which venue" question. A landlord withholding a deposit, or dragging their feet on repairs, is generally a money or contractual matter, and normally goes to the Small Claims Tribunal (for the practical steps in a deposit dispute, see our rental deposit dispute guide). The Lands Tribunal, by contrast, is mostly used by landlords applying for possession — tenants filing there directly is comparatively rare. For a fuller view of the roles and steps on both sides of a rent-arrears dispute, see our rental arrears case overview.