HONG KONG (Reuters) – Housing is famously cramped in the Asian financial hub of Hong Kong, thanks to sky-high property prices, but a single toilet and kitchen shared by four families would make for a challenging home situation anywhere.
More than 200,000 people in Hong Kong live in sub-divided flats, often cloaked in a musty odor and plagued by bedbugs during sweltering summers. The former British colony, ranked as the world’s most unaffordable city for a 14th consecutive year by survey company Demographia, has one of the world’s highest rates of inequality.
Hong Kong has vowed to adopt new laws setting minimum space and safety norms for sub-divided flats, where each resident lives in an area of about 65 sq ft (6 sq m) on average, or half the size of the parking space for a sedan. The aim is to eradicate sub-standard sub-divided units by 2049, a target set in 2021 by China’s top official overseeing the city.
Hong Kong’s housing problem is the top agenda item for the government, and it is “determined to eradicate sub-standard sub-divided units.” Since July 2022, about 49,000 applicants have been housed in public rental housing, and around 18,400 units of transitional housing have been made available for immediate and short-term accommodation.
However, the reality is far from ideal, with a single bathroom and a kitchen shared by multiple families. Many residents live in cramped conditions, often with limited space and poor ventilation. For example, Xiao Bo, a 60-year-old retiree, shares a tiny apartment with three others, and her home is often plagued by bedbugs.
Another resident, Wong Chi-kong, 76, pays HK$2,900 a month for a space smaller than 50 sq ft (5 sq m) and has to share the bathroom with 20 others. Leung Kwong Kuen, 80, lives in a so-called “coffin home,” a windowless space of about 15 sq ft (1.4 sq m) with no ventilation, and is plagued by bedbugs.
While some residents are lucky to have a relatively larger space, many others live in even more cramped conditions. Sum, a 72-year-old bachelor, has lived in a “coffin home” for three years, paying HK$2,500 a month for a space of 2 sq m (22 sq ft).
Demand for public housing is high, with over 1.4 million people in Hong Kong living in poverty, and the number of poor households rising to 619,000 in the first quarter of 2024, accounting for about 22.7% of the total. Non-profit organization Oxfam has called for the new regulations to extend to “coffin” homes, which are often located in outdated residential buildings in old business areas.
Not everyone is optimistic about the prospect of moving into public housing, with one resident, Chan, 45, waiting for 19 years to be housed and expressing concern about the availability of suitable options for those living in sub-divided flats.