Redevelopment of Hong Kong’s Instagram-famous Choi Hung Estate to take 15 years, with 1,800 more flats to be added
- Under preliminary government proposal, redevelopment of public housing estate will take 15 years and be completed in three stages, providing 9,200 flats
- Housing chief Winnie Ho says government will consult the community next year and formulate its final proposal
Redevelopment of an ageing Hong Kong public housing estate famed as an Instagram hotspot is expected to take 15 years and yield 9,200 flats, 24 per cent more than currently on the site, the government has said.
Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho Wing-yin on Thursday announced the redevelopment plan for the rainbow-coloured Choi Hung Estate in Wong Tai Sin, home to about 7,400 households in 11 seven- to 20-storey buildings built between 1962 and 1964.
“We have been putting more and more resources into its maintenance. The estate also has signs of ageing. It is time to commence the redevelopment study,” Ho said after meeting the strategic planning committee of the Housing Authority, the city’s major supplier of public rental flats.
According to a preliminary government proposal, redevelopment of the sprawling estate will take 15 years and be completed in three stages, yielding 9,200 flats, around 1,800 more than the existing number.
The first batch of about 2,500 affected households will be relocated to Mei Tung Estate – a 30-minute walk from Choi Hung – where two redeveloped blocks will provide 2,860 flats by 2027-28.
Their old blocks in Choi Hung will be pulled down and rebuilt into new flats, which will house the second group of residents to be relocated. A similar arrangement will apply to the remaining batch of families.
The government also said affected tenants would be given priority to apply to buy around 1,460 subsidised flats scheduled for completion by 2025-26 on Wang Chiu Road, opposite Choi Hung Estate.