Vacancies in Hong Kong’s unpopular shared facility public flats should be reduced to ease housing shortage, ombudsman says

Winnie Chiu says multiple occupancy flats that require tenants, many of whom are elderly, to share kitchens and bathrooms are disliked and have high vacancy rates

She said it was time for the Housing Department to take account of changed times and expectations, as well as maximise use of available properties

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Hong Kong’s ombudsman has called for unpopular multiple occupancy flats to be reconfigured back to single-family apartments. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 6:21pm, 13 Jul 2023Updated: 8:45pm, 13 Jul 2023

Hong Kong’s public services watchdog has asked the Housing Department to look at ways to put some public flats back on the market to ease the shortage of living spaces as the watchdog revealed that hundreds of unpopular units with shared facilities were vacant.

Ombudsman Winnie Chiu Wai-yin on Thursday said flats that required tenants, many of them elderly, to share kitchen and bathroom facilities were disliked by applicants for public sector housing.

Authorities also had difficulty recovering rooms from tenants in low-occupancy units so they could be converted into flats that could house more people, she added.

Chiu highlighted the government had stepped up its efforts to improve the “living conditions of grass roots residents”.

Ombudsman Winnie Chiu says multiple occupancy, shared facility flats designed for single people and the elderly are unpopular and should be reconfigured to ease the housing crisis. Photo: Handout

“It is time for the Housing Department to review the effectiveness of existing measures for housing related to senior residents and converted one-person units and make corresponding adjustments,” she said.