Tuen Mun’s ‘nano flats’, smaller than standard car parking lots, command outsize rents
Tiny apartments in the Tplus development in Tuen Mun likely to fetch a minimum rental of HK$4,000 per month, property agents say
Tiny flats in one of Hong Kong’s newest developments are set to fetch rents well above market rates, raising concerns that low income groups left off the property ladder haven’t really benefited from the trend of building smaller apartments.
The smallest of Hong Kong’s apartments -- “nano flats” with sizes starting from 128 square feet (12 square meters) -- under construction at TPlus in Tuen Mun are set to be leased for HK$4,000 per month, or HK$31 per sq ft.
These flats are even smaller than a standard 134-sq ft car park space, which rent for HK$1,500 per month, said Cheung Choi-kuen, an executive director at Many Wells Property Agent, a specialist that focuses on Tuen Mun.
The rates are about 19 per cent to 29 per cent higher than market average of HK$24 to HK$26 per sq ft for the area, according to Centaline Property Agency’s data.
“In a sky-high property market like Hong Kong, tenants or buyers with limited budgets only go for smaller lump sum amounts, rather than unit size,” he said. “There is always a market for tiny flats.”
Hong Kong home rents for units smaller than 430 sq ft saw a year-on-year increase of 10 per cent in May, while the rise was a more modest 3 per cent for flats from 1,076 sq ft to 1,721 sq ft, according to data from the Rating & Valuation Department.