Opinion | Hong Kong’s rent control bill won’t please everyone but it’s a start

Name: Tiny 290sq ft temporary housing a welcome upgrade for some low-income Hong Kong families
Uploaded: 2021-07-16T00:30:15.000Z
Duration: 4 min 11 s
Description: Tiny 290sq ft temporary housing a welcome upgrade for some low-income Hong Kong families

The tenancy control bill for subdivided flats does not alleviate the underlying issue of a shortage of affordable housing. But it would help people live more securely

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Wong Kwong-wah, seen here in a photo taken on July 10, lives in a windowless 30 sq ft room in Sham Shui Po, and needs to turn on two fans in hot weather. Subdivided flats are cheaper to rent in absolute terms but are more expensive on a per square foot basis. Photo: Dickson Lee

Bernard Chan

Published: 8:30am, 16 Jul 2021Updated: 8:30am, 16 Jul 2021

Rent control is a contentious issue and perhaps nowhere more so than in capitalist and laissez-faire Hong Kong. The city holds the unenviable crown of being the world’s most expensive for renters, according to a 2019 Deutsche Bank report on the global cost of living.

Those with limited means are finding it increasingly difficult to find affordable accommodation. With an average waiting time of 5.8 years for public housing, the longest in 20 years, many are turning to the city’s 110,000 subdivided flats.

Subdivided flats are defined as premises that form part of a unit of a building, whether residential, industrial or commercial. They include partitioned units, cubicles, loft spaces, caged homes, rooftop houses and even bed spaces. I encourage the reader to pause and reflect on what it would feel like if their entire home was a bed space.

The median monthly rent of HK$4,800 (US$620) for a median 124 sq ft of space in a subdivided unit, can be a less expensive option on an absolute basis for Hongkongers. On a per square foot basis though, subdivided units are more expensive than other private rental flats. A government task force report found the median monthly rent for subdivided flats to be HK$39 per square foot, versus HK$28 and HK$34 for a flat smaller than 430 sq ft in the New Territories and Kowloon respectively.

04:11

Tiny 290sq ft temporary housing a welcome upgrade for some low-income Hong Kong families

Most subdivided flats are located in buildings over 50 years old, and have suboptimal living conditions, many with shared postboxes, toilets and kitchens. The average space per person is 70 sq ft, or around half the size of a standard 134 sq ft car park space in Hong Kong.

The problems of living in subdivided flats were further highlighted during the coronavirus pandemic, with transmissions frequent. Confined to a small space and with over 30 per cent having no access to the internet, according to a study by the NGO Society for Community Organisation, students experienced great difficulties learning online.

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.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} The tenancy control bill for subdivided flats does not alleviate the underlying issue of a shortage of affordable housing. But it would help people live more securely

The tenancy control bill for subdivided flats does not alleviate the underlying issue of a shortage of affordable housing. But it would help people live more securely