HK Policy Address 2024: Hong Kong to phase out subdivided units under 8 sq. metres, but ‘coffin homes’ to stay
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong will pass a law to phase out subdivided flats smaller than eight square metres (86 sq ft) and ensure they have windows and a toilet, Chief Executive John Lee has announced.
But the city’s infamous “coffin homes,” which are regulated – and effectively legalised – by a separate law passed three decades ago, will not be affected by the new rules.
Deleivering his third Policy Address on Wednesday, Lee said subdivided units, to be redesignated as “Basic Housing Units” under new legislation, should measure at least eight square metres in floorspace. They should also include windows and an individual toilet.
Hong Kong had 108,200 subdivided flats in 2021, according to official data. Local anti-poverty NGO, the Society for Community Organization (SoCO), estimates that nearly 250,000 people live in these cramped units.
On a 2021 visit to Hong Kong, Beijing’s top official on Hong Kong affairs Xia Baolong said he hoped the city would eradicate its infamous subdivided flats and cage homes by 2049, describing the city’s housing crisis as a “deep-rooted problem.”
The move comes a year after Lee announced plans to set minimum living standards for subdivided flats in his 2023 Policy Address.
“Current SDUs differ significantly in their conditions regarding fire safety, ventilation, floor area, availability of individual kitchens and toilets and whether they are separated or combined, among others. As such, it is necessary to set minimum standards to eradicate inadequate SDUs,” Lee said on Wednesday.
The new regulations will take into account the “genuine demand” for subdivided units, while also ensuring those dwellings meet standards for liveability, Lee said.
Coffin homes review
However, “coffin homes” – tiny spaces measuring little larger than a single bed also known as cage homes – will not fall under the remit of the new legislation. Instead, they will continue to be regulated by the Bedspaces Apartments Ordinance.
The ordinance requires owners of those flats to license premises with 12 or more bedspaces. But landlords have been circumventing the regulation since the law was passed in 1994 by operating 11 sleeping spaces instead.
A Home and Youth Affairs Bureau source on Wednesday told HKFP the government would review the 1994 ordinance and decide whether to revise the licensing requirements.
In the case of subdivided flats, landlords will be given a grace period to bring them up to standard. They must register their flats to be eligible for the grace period.
New subdivided flats, however, will not be entitled to the grace period and must meet the minimum requirements. Owners who rent out “substandard” units may face criminal liability, Lee said.
The authorities will resettle tenants in batches, “having regard to the market supply of Basic Housing Units and taking into consideration the supply of and policy on public housing,” Lee said.
The government will try to provide short-term housing for subdivided unit tenants who are eligible for it but have not yet applied for public housing, a Housing Bureau source said.
Deputy Financial Secretary Michael Wong and Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho will announce details and seek views from lawmakers and stakeholders.
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