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Subdivided flat tenants who lose their homes under proposed regulations to crack down on substandard housing conditions will not be prioritised in the queue for renting public flats, Hong Kong’s housing minister has said.
Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho told i-Cable on Saturday that there were no “direct links” between the public rental housing queue and the proposed legislation to phase out subpar subdivided housing, which is expected to outlaw subdivided flats smaller than eight square metres (86 sq ft), as well as those without a window and a toilet.
See also: The infamous ‘coffin homes’ that Hong Kong’s new housing reforms won’t touch
“[Prioritising them] would encourage people to move into the worst subdivided units, hoping that they will get phased out,” she said in Cantonese when asked whether subdivided housing tenants would be given priority in the queue.
The proposed legislation was announced at Chief Executive John Lee’s Policy Address earlier this month. Lee said subdivided units will soon need to be registered, and then inspected by professionals to ensure they can be designated “Basic Housing Units” before being rented out by landlords. The units that do not meet requirements will not be allowed on the market.
‘Basic Housing Units’
About a third of the city’s 108,200 subdivided flats are expected to be deemed subpar under the new regulations, according to officials. Landlords will have until some time in 2028 to register their flat and make repairs, Ho said last week.
While requirements have been proposed for what would qualify as a “Basic Housing Unit,” the government has yet to announce resettlement measures for those affected by the new law.
NGOs including the Society for Community Organization (SoCO) have called for resettlement measures and rent controls, fearing that low-income tenants may turn to bedspaces, known more commonly as “coffin homes,” once the legislation takes effect. The proposed housing reforms do not affect coffin homes, which are regulated – and effectively legalised – by a separate set of laws called the Bedspaces Apartments Ordinance.
Ho on Saturday revealed that the average rent for subdivided flats citywide stood at around HK$5,500 in 2023. But she also said it would be difficult to say how much a subdivided unit should be rented for, as there were too many factors to account for apart from the flat’s size.
Regarding whether the government will publicise the task force’s report on subdivided housing, Ho said that more information will be released once the proposal is tabled to the legislature towards the end of the year.
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