Is Hong Kong’s drive to eliminate substandard housing doing more harm than good?
Housewife May and her three children were overjoyed last September when they moved into a 200 sq ft subdivided flat in Kwai Tsing, a Hong Kong district with one of the city’s lowest average monthly household incomes. For years, the 50-year-old single parent had lived in a squatter hut with her son and two daughters, where they had to climb hundreds of stairs daily. They later moved into a 100 sq…
The Hong Kong government's initiative to eradicate substandard housing through the Basic Housing Units Ordinance may be inadvertently causing more harm than good. Housewife May and her three children were overjoyed when they moved into a 200 sq ft subdivided flat, but their landlord recently gave notice to move out as he planned to exit the subdivided market.
May's family is now struggling to find another suitable residence. The Hong Kong Subdivided Flats Concerning Platform, an advocacy group, reported that many families facing relocation have been pushed into even worse living conditions, including squatter huts and industrial buildings. The group suggests that the government provide stable transitional housing and review its long-term housing strategy.
Transitional flats, introduced in 2018, are short-term housing operated by NGOs, but not all tenants can secure a better living environment. A 50-year-old woman, Then, moved from a 100 sq ft subdivided flat to another subdivided home in an industrial building, only to be evicted due to the new standards. The new requirements include a minimum size of 86 square feet and other safety and hygiene conditions.
Despite paying a similar rent, Then's new home is stuffy, humid, and lacks windows. The city's first five-year plan, announced in mid-September, does not mention transitional housing, and many transitional flats may cease operation in the coming years. This leaves tenants without proper accommodation options and potentially pushing them into a hidden and dangerous housing market.
Written by urgent.news from South China Morning Post - Hong Kong's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
