Hong Kong residents of substandard housing fear being left out in cold by plans to end low-quality subdivided flats: survey
- Society for Community Organisation survey finds 90 per cent back plan to ditch low-quality subdivided flats, but want assurances on resettlement first
- Poll also finds 6.2 per cent rejected government proposals, highlighting fears including risk of homelessness and loss of support systems if moved elsewhere
Almost all Hong Kong residents in substandard housing have said the government should draw up relocation plans before it pressed ahead with the eradication of poor-quality subdivided flats as many feared they could end up homeless, a poll has found.
The survey by the Society for Community Organisation (SoCO) released on Sunday found a huge majority of respondents living in low-quality housing said they backed a government plan to ban inadequate subdivided flats.
“Nearly 90 per cent of them said they agreed with government plans to ban subdivided flats that were too subpar, but under the precondition that they will be settled somewhere first,” SoCO community organiser Angela Lui Yi-shan said.
But she added that 6.2 per cent of those surveyed rejected the government plans because of a variety of concerns.
These included fears they would become homeless because they might not meet relocation requirements or that they would have to spend time looking for a new place to live.