My Take | It’s time to end the inhuman practice of subdividing homes
The government has decided to act against illegal tenancies, but it has no idea how many people are living in such places, and no plan to rehouse them
When it comes to low-income people living in those horrid subdivided flats in industrial buildings, this government seems bent on throwing them onto the streets.
But shouldn’t they have done it years ago, when newspapers and social work agencies started reporting such substandard and unsafe leasing and subletting?
Instead, officials at the housing and buildings departments turned a blind eye and kept passing the buck. Now they are sitting on a time bomb. While officials are threatening a crackdown, it appears they have no idea how many people are illegally living in industrial buildings. There is no plan to rehouse them once they have been kicked out. Meanwhile, officials seem happy to leave those living in subdivided units in derelict residential buildings to rot.
