SCMP Originals
Hong Kong housing

Living in 15 sq ft: Inside Hong Kong’s coffin homes

Hong Kong’s pricey property market has a dark side – cramped and claustrophobic subdivided flats, where people live in spaces as small as 15 sq ft (1.4 sq metres). What is life like inside a flat smaller than a prison cell? SCMP explores the city’s shoebox flats through the lives of those who call these tiny spaces home.

November 25, 2022
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Hong Kong launched a youth hostel scheme in 2011 with the goal of providing affordable long-term housing for young residents. More than a decade since its introduction, the government has now...03:17
Hong Kong housing
Too old for subsidised flats: Hong Kong slow to deliver on youth housing initiative
November 23, 2022
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CY Leung was Hong Kong chief executive for a single term that ended in 2017. Now, as an elder statesman trusted by Beijing, he has become an active, vocal and influential figure in the city’s...23:28
Talking Post with Yonden Lhatoo
What leadership does HK need? Former Chief Executive CY Leung on Talking Post with Yonden Lhatoo
January 27, 2022
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Since Beijing overhauled the city’s electoral system earlier this year to ensure only “patriots” govern Hong Kong, some pro-establishment veterans have decided to switch to new constituencies. The...29:39
Hong Kong elections
Hong Kong Legco election: candidates up close
December 14, 2021
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More than 700 shoebox flats offered up in Hong Kong’s latest batch of subsidised housing units have been sitting unsold for over a month, while all the bigger flats in the scheme have already been...02:16
Hong Kong housing
Hong Kong’s new shoebox flats in Diamond Hill
December 3, 2021
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After bearing the brunt of public anger and international criticism over the 2019 protests, Chief Executive Carrie Lam now says she is “steeled” to meet any challenges as she spearheads sweeping...22:31
Talking Post with Yonden Lhatoo
Carrie Lam, Hong Kong's comeback queen?
November 27, 2021
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Working-class communities have been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, with many struggling to feed themselves and pay rent. Catering company Gingko House, which operates several restaurants in...04:30
Hong Kong housing
HK restaurant feeds the needy
September 5, 2021
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Hong Kong’s subdivided flats and cage homes are stark reminders of the decades-long housing crisis in the city. These flats, often smaller than an average parking space, are usually carved out of...10:08
Hong Kong housing
Can Hong Kong solve its decades-long housing crisis?
August 10, 2021
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Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po visited low-income families who live in subdivided apartments and public estates in Sham Shui Po on July 24, 2021. He vowed to solve the housing...02:58
Paul Chan
Hong Kong financial chief visits low-income people
July 25, 2021
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Turkmenistan’s capital Ashgabat has been ranked as the world’s most expensive city for expats in 2021, according to an annual cost-of-living survey by consultancy firm Mercer. Hong Kong dropped to...01:54
Hong Kong economy
HK no longer world’s most expensive city
June 23, 2021
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Since arriving in Hong Kong in 1985, John Wotherspoon has spent his time helping the city’s disadvantaged. The Australian priest was first posted to a Kowloon parish and on Lantau Island before...11:31
Poverty
‘Temple Street Father’
June 12, 2021
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Former Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying urged the public to reconsider his controversial idea to build subsidised housing on country park land, a plan previously shot down by the current government...03:13
Hong Kong politics
Leung Chun-ying on his proposal to build housing on country park land
May 13, 2021
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Lau Kai-fai and his family recently started making themselves at home in a 293 sq ft (27 square metre) prefabricated flat in Sham Shui Po. The apartment is a modular unit that is part of a...04:11
Hong Kong housing
Hong Kong’s 290sq ft temporary homes
September 29, 2020
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Vera Yuen Wing-han, a lecturer in economics at the University of Hong Kong, has expressed concern that the government’s plan to phase out subdivided flats smaller than 86 square feet could result...10:40
John Lee policy address 2024
HKU scholar: phasing out smallest subdivided flats could push up rents of remaining units
October 17, 2024
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City leader John Lee delivered his annual policy address on October 16, 2024, rolling out a host of measures to attract foreign talent and investment, while also announcing a surprise easing of...04:09
John Lee policy address 2024
John Lee’s plan to attract talent and money to Hong Kong
October 16, 2024
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Hong Kong authorities will regulate subdivided flats in phases, with higher-risk homes in certain districts and buildings prioritised for eradication. In an exclusive on-site interview with the...03:45
Hong Kong housing
Hong Kong housing minister on subdivided flats and home ownership
July 29, 2024
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Hong Kong public rental housing is ubiquitous, providing homes for more than 40 per cent of the city's 7.5 million residents. They have been built in all 18 of the city’s districts under a...03:28
Hong Kong housing
Appreciating the beauty of Hong Kong's public housing
July 13, 2024
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One miserable failure that seems to endlessly haunt Hong Kong is its inability to house underprivileged residents in humane conditions. While a well-off minority lives in luxury, many Hongkongers...24:45
Talking Post with Yonden Lhatoo
Inside Hong Kong’s notorious ‘coffin homes’ | Talking Post with Yonden Lhatoo
March 30, 2024
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An investigation by the South China Morning Post has uncovered rampant land grabs in some of Hong Kong’s priciest residential properties. Some buildings were found to have been extended by...11:41
Hong Kong society
Exposing the invisible land grab by Hong Kong’s rich
February 5, 2024
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It is no secret that Hong Kong is one, if not the most, expensive places in the world to own a home. While property prices are now experiencing a cooling trend, buying a home remains an...13:00
Hong Kong housing
Why is Hong Kong housing so expensive?
January 27, 2024
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Read more about Hong Kong’s history of illegal building works: https://sc.mp/d1vo ...03:02
Hong Kong housing
What was exposed by a landslide at a Hong Kong luxury home?
September 15, 2023
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A former subdivided flat in Tai Kok Tsui has been turned into a so-called Trapped Experience Centre, an exhibition replicating Hong Kong’s notorious subdivided housing units. The rooms were...08:01
Hong Kong housing
Inside Hong Kong’s notorious subdivided flats
June 4, 2023