How small can Hong Kong’s apartments get? This builder is aiming for a record at 123 sq ft
With first-time buyers severely limited on how much they can pay, micro-apartments – those smaller than 200 sq ft – continue to be developers’ favourite
Hong Kong’s developers are shrinking their apartments, as surging prices severely limit the amount of money that first-time buyers can put down on their property, putting all but the smallest units beyond their budgets.
In Sham Shui Po, Kowloon City and Tin Shui Wai, 15 per cent of the 3,300 apartment units in six projects approved for construction will be smaller than 200 square feet (18.6 square metres) in usable area, according to data released by the Buildings Department.
Setting the record will be Wing Kwok Enterprises, a privately owned local developer in Sham Shui Po, a dense, working-class neighbourhood in the northwestern corner of the Kowloon peninsula. It plans to build a 27-storey residential block, with the smallest unit having a usable area of 123 sq ft, smaller than a standard 20-ft shipping container or a typical American parking space.
“At that size, the unit will most likely feature only an open kitchen, and a shower room, which typically add about 10 per cent to the total area,” said Victor Lai Kin-fai, a managing director of Centaline Surveyors.
Data shows that 27 per cent of Hongkongers do not expect to ever be able to afford a home, which “definitely deserves everyone’s attention,” said Nerida Conisbee, chief economist of REA Group, a digital advertising firm that specialises in property. In its survey of 1,003 respondents, REA Group also found that another 16 per cent of people have no plan to buy property because prices are beyond their reach.