33,000 households to move as John Lee aims to tackle Hong Kong subdivided flat issue

Government intends to improve standards for city’s smallest flats but questions remain over how resettlement will be handled

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Subdivided flats in Cheung Sha Wan. According to census figures from 2021, Hong Kong has 108,200 subdivided flats, 17 per cent more than the 92,700 recorded in 2016. Photo: Eugene Lee

Published: 10:26pm, 16 Oct 2024Updated: 11:35pm, 17 Oct 2024

More than 30,000 households living in subdivided flats will be forced to move under a new policy phasing out unsatisfactory living spaces in Hong Kong, but authorities will need about four years to tackle the problem, an insider has said.

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said in his policy address on Wednesday that a new law would ensure subdivided flats met new requirements, including having proper windows, at least one toilet per unit and a minimum size of 86 sq ft.

According to official data, about 30 per cent of the city’s 110,000 subdivided homes, or 33,000, do not meet the criteria. More than 20 per cent did not meet the minimum size requirement, while about 10 per cent failed to meet other existing standards, a government source said.

Lee on Wednesday admitted that his proposals to tackle subdivided housing might not completely solve the problem.

“When I design a new measure, I will ask: ‘Is it solving 95 per cent of the problem, leaving some percentage of it unresolved? Should I still go ahead? Or should I wait until I have a perfect 100 per cent solution?’” he said.

Lee said those who would be forced to move out due to the new measures could eventually consider renting “basic housing units”, the government’s term for subdivided flats renovated to meet the standards in the future.