Flat owners yesterday rejected suggestions that they were to blame for forcing poor people out of flats and into 'cage homes' which rank above only the streets as the meanest accommodation in Hong Kong.
Owners said inflation forced them to raise rents, while housing problems were the government's 'social responsibility' to deal with.
Hong Kong Owners' Club chairman Shea Hing-wan said: 'It is unfair to us if we are accused of making people live in cage homes. We need to raise rents because of inflation. And don't forget we need to maintain the building if necessary.'
Landlord Concern Group representative Vincent Ho said the government should build more public housing for the poor.
Mr Ho said it was 'not easy' for owners to take eviction cases to the Lands Tribunal. 'We won't force tenants to move out if it's not necessary.'
The Society for Community Organisation estimates that about 100,000 people live in flats divided into cubicles or bed spaces - known as 'cage homes' because of the wire mesh tenants erect to protect their belongings on tiered bunks.
