Hong Kong aims to wipe out notorious subdivided flats but will new rules help or hurt tenants?
- Tiny living spaces are part of daily life for 215,700 tenants, but some worry over impact of task force proposals to set minimum standards
Hong Kong’s subdivided homes, notorious for their poor living conditions, are set to be regulated after the city leader reviews a proposal to be issued by a cross-departmental task force next month. In the first of a three-part series, Vivian Au and Edith Lin look at how standards may be set and enforced.
Hong Kong cleaner Yu Yu-fen makes her way up a makeshift flight of stairs and has to stoop to go through a passageway less than a metre high before arriving home.
Her 40 sq ft space is the smallest of 20 unauthorised subdivided homes in a flat in Sham Shui Po. Hardly able to stretch out fully, she often curls up against the wall, sleeping next to neat piles of clothes and personal belongings.
The windowless space is stuffy, more so in summer. Mosquitoes and bugs keep her up on many nights. She shares the kitchen and bathroom with 30 other tenants.
“I have adapted to the crowded living environment which has trained me to sleep in any position,” said Yu, 53, who has two adult sons in their thirties.
“I have no choice but to live here as the rent is HK$2,800 [US$359], which I can still afford. I do not want to trouble my sons, who have their own lives.”
Hong Kong had 108,200 such subdivided flats in 2021, according to official data, 17 per cent more than the 92,700 in 2016. The city’s tiniest living spaces, they are notorious for hygiene, safety and security hazards.