Yuen Long too remote? Hong Kong transitional housing project for poor families has 800 empty flats, but no takers

Housewife Joanne Au* could not be happier at moving into her temporary home in Yuen Long, in Hong Kong’s New Territories, with her husband and four-year-old daughter. “It is very cool here,” Au said. “The environment is comfortable and new.” Her daughter has also enjoyed attending art and singing lessons at United Court, a transitional housing project meant for low-income families waiting years for their public housing flats. Au said life here was better than when the family lived in a tiny “glass house” on the roof of a building in the same district. “The windows had no grilles and we were always worried that our daughter would open the windows, so we kept them closed,” said Au, in her twenties. “It was also very hot and stuffy.” United Court, with eight four-story blocks and 1,800 flats, is operated by the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Welfare Council. But six months after tenants began moving in, nearly half the flats are still vacant, and the council hoped the government would do more to promote it. Its assistant director, Keung Choi Yin, suggested that the Housing Bureau inform people on the waiting list for public flats about the vacancies. Without access to the applicants’ data, looking for tenants was like searching for a needle in a haystack, she said. Hong Kong housing chief vows to locate more land for transitional homes Transitional housing is a government initiative to help families waiting for public rental flats and those forced to live in poor conditions in tiny subdivided spaces. With 135,500 families and single elderly applicants in the queue, the average waiting time is 5.6 years. Welfare groups could partner with builders to design, erect and operate the transitional housing on temporary sites offered by government departments and developers. At United Court, which is on a 250,000 sq ft site owned by Sun Hung Kai Properties, every flat is equipped with an air conditioner and ventilation fan, and has a toilet, water heater and space for cooking. Housewife Zoe Leung recalled how she and her husband rarely cooked at home when they lived in a 120 sq ft subdivided space in Kwai Chung. “We mostly went out for meals because it was not convenient to clean vegetables next to the toilet bowl. It was a bit gross,” she said. The childless couple, in their forties, used to argue often, and felt pressured over having to pay HK$7,000 (US$896) a month for their rent and utilities, around two-thirds of their income. Hong Kong group to build 1,020 transitional homes for low-income families “I was always worried that the owner would evict us or raise our rent … we were quite bad-tempered,” Leung recalled. The couple’s relationship improved since they moved into their 150 sq ft flat at United Court, paying only HK$2,800 a month. They even had spare cash to join their neighbours on HK$40 day trips organised by the operator. They have been waiting almost three years for a public rental flat. About 800 flats in United Court were still vacant this month, mostly family flats for two or three people. The flats for singles and big families have all been taken up. Keung conceded that the project’s location in the New Territories might have put off some families with children. With other transitional housing projects in urban areas, she understood that some would hesitate to change districts, find new schools for their children and even jobs. But she pointed out that United Court was just 10 minutes from the Yuen Long railway station and public transport interchange connecting to urban districts. The council provided tenants with childcare and a job matching service, and the project also had a convenience store, barber shop and self-service laundry with prices below the market rate. Keung said she heard that the government was considering ways to promote available transitional housing, and hoped it would do more to tell applicants where flats were available. “Different operators have to think of their own ways to promote their projects. The government will be quicker,” she said. Hong Kong to build 16,000 transitional homes by mid-2023: housing chief There are three other transitional housing sites in the New Territories. The Hong Kong Housing Society told the Post that 10 per cent of the more than 130 flats at Trackside Villas, a refurbished former dormitory for railway staff in Tai Po, were vacant and being renovated for a change in tenants. Pok Oi Hospital began housing tenants for its 781 flats in Yuen Long in May. It is recruiting tenants for another 1,217 flats that will be available next month. The Post learned that its occupancy rate had reached more than 70 per cent of “maximum accommodation”. The Salvation Army held an opening ceremony last month for its 123 flats in Tuen Mun. It began accepting inquiries in June, and applications are still open. The Post has reached out to both operators for comments. The Housing Bureau said the overall occupancy of transitional housing sites in the New Territories was 80 per cent, while those in urban areas and near public transport nodes were about 95 per cent. “The government welcomes feedback from transitional housing operators and is open to ideas to enhance publicity,” a spokeswoman said on Saturday. She added that operators’ sophisticated social networks had previously achieved promising results in reaching out to potential tenants. * Name changed at interviewee’s request.