Hong Kong’s 10-year housing target unchanged at 430,000 flats, though number of families in cramped conditions to grow
- Housing chief Frank Chan suggests economic downturn played a role in 2.4 per cent projected increase in number of inadequately housed residents
- More than a third of 15,000 promised transitional housing flats for people awaiting public ones remain unbuilt
The number of Hong Kong households living in poor conditions such as subdivided flats will increase by 2,900 to 122,000 over the next 10 years, the city’s housing minister warned on Wednesday, pointing to the recession as a possible reason for the rise while conceding he lacked “concrete answers”.
But two government advisers said the supply target would gradually decline over time with a slowdown in net household growth, with one calling for more land to be allocated to the private sector to build flats.
The yearly adjustments to the target under the Long Term Housing Strategy are determined by quantitative projections of different demand components, including the number of households, those displaced by redevelopment, people living in undesirable environments and overseas buyers who are not selling or leasing their flats.
The government has identified lack of affordable housing as one of the most crucial issues facing the city.
This year’s projection found the number of households living in poor conditions would rise from 119,100 to 122,000, a 2.4 per cent increase, over the next 10 years. They include people living in temporary housing such as rooftop huts, industrial or commercial buildings, subdivided flats, cubicles and bedspaces.