Hong Kong’s housing chief has estimated that the city will have around 80,000 “acceptable basic housing units” after some existing subdivided flats were modified to meet proposed regulations.
Around 30 per cent of the roughly 110,000 subdivided units in Hong Kong had poor living conditions and were “targeted for eradication,” Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho wrote in an op-ed published in the South China Morning Post on Thursday.
The minister was referring to a plan announced by Chief Executive John Lee in the 2024 Policy Address, when he vowed to pass a law to phase out subdivided flats smaller than eight square metres and ensure they have windows and a toilet.
See also: The infamous ‘coffin homes’ that Hong Kong’s new housing reforms won’t touch
In the commentary published on Thursday, Ho cited a recent survey completed by the government, which found that some of the substandard flats could be turned into basic housing units.
“We estimate that the remaining 77,000 units can meet the proposed minimum standards with some minor modification works. Therefore, more than 70 per cent (about 80,000 units) will remain in the market as acceptable basic housing units in the long run,” she wrote.
In November, the Housing Bureau proposed that landlords of substandard subdivided units should face a HK$300,000 fine or prison sentences of up to three years. Tenants would not be held liable.
The proposed law, however, has been criticised for not targeting “cage homes,” “coffin homes” and other bed space units in the city. In her article, Ho described such criticism as “misconceptions,” saying those units were already regulated by the Bedspace Apartments Ordinance.
Including them in the regime for basic housing units would only “duplicate regulations,” and thus it was “unnecessary,” she wrote.
The bill for the new regulatory regime is set to be introduced to the legislature soon after a stakeholder consultation ends on February 10, Ho wrote, adding the government was seeking to pass the law this year.
The proposed legislation was generally welcomed by local NGOs and scholars, but some raised concerns over the resettlement arrangement and potential rent increases resulting from the eradication of substandard housing.
According to the housing minister, around 220,000 Hongkongers are living in subdivided units. Forty per cent of the 110,00 subdivided unit had applied for public rental housing. The demand for subdivided flats is expected to drop in the coming years, as the supply of public rental housing increases, allowing more households to move to public housing, she said.
“Given the anticipated drop in demand for these units, there is expected to be little room for significant rent increases,” Ho wrote.
Lee has made tackling Hong Kong’s housing crisis one of his administration’s key agendas. In his maiden Policy Address last October, he vowed to reduce the average waiting time for public rental housing to four and a half years within four years.
In September, the average waiting time stood at five and a half years.
