Hong Kong has enough money and land, but no guts or will to solve its housing crisis
Yonden Lhatoo laments the profit-before-people mentality and weak governance that have allowed a basic right to become an unaffordable luxury
I feel sorry for Hong Kong people when it comes to housing. They really have a raw deal, thanks to greedy landlords, unscrupulous property developers and gutless governance.
You would think such a basic necessity as having a roof over your head would be a given in one of the most prosperous cities in the world, but not here. Most Hongkongers can only dream of owning a flat, and even those who do, unless they’re wealthy, are mostly cooped up in tiny little pigeon holes that pass for homes.
Cramming a family of six into 400 square feet would be seen as a human-rights violation in most advanced societies, but, here, it’s the norm. That’s why developers are able to market a 180 sq ft flat for HK$4 million without triggering a riot or a revolution.
You may want to note, though, that when we did have a riot back in February, in Mong Kok, people finally began to realise an inconvenient truth. There are a lot of genuinely frustrated Young Turks out there, and much of their anger stems from our city’s shocking wealth gap, lack of upward mobility for the have-nots, and, yes, the prospect of a lifelong struggle to own or rent a home.