Latest news with #subdividedflats
South China Morning Post
20-07-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
‘Avoid harsh labels for Hong Kong homes certified under subdivided flat regime'
Hong Kong should avoid negative labels for certified subdivided flats as they provide accommodation to people from all walks of life, the housing minister has said, while stressing that a planned shake-up of standards will not drive up rents. In an exclusive interview with the Post, Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho Wing-yin also said temporary flats were likely to continue serving residents in the future and form part of the city's housing ladder, but ruled out plans to further create a supply of starter homes for first-time buyers. Proposals to regulate the city's subdivided housing, which are notorious for their hygiene, safety and security hazards, are currently being scrutinised by the Legislative Council. Under the coming policy, subdivided flats that meet the official standards and are accredited as 'basic housing units' are allowed to remain on the rental market. 'We are giving a certification to basic housing units, which meet basic standards and are no longer inferior. I will not label them. They are simply choices made by different people at different times,' Ho said. She gave the reply to a question about whether authorities would prefer residents to leave such flats and move up the housing ladder.
South China Morning Post
14-07-2025
- Health
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong urged to expand carer support scheme to cover other vulnerable groups
A Hong Kong pilot scheme to identify hidden cases of at-risk carers should be expanded to also cover other low-income families and subdivided flat tenants, a social worker and a district councillor have urged, as a new database to address the issue began operation. The first part of the government initiative began at 9am on Monday and will see the Hospital Authority send daily alerts to the Social Welfare Department if any carers among the 8,000 to 9,000 households listed in the database have been hospitalised. The department would then check on the needs of the elderly or disabled person being cared for and offer them support, such as meal deliveries or respite services. The scheme was set up after a series of tragedies related to the increasing burden placed on carers' shoulders, with most cases involving single older people living alone and elderly couples who took care of each other. Social worker Crystal Yuen Shuk-yan cited concerns about possible time lags and questioned whether the alerts from the authority to the department would be prompt enough. 'If a carer was hospitalised during the day but authorities only receive an alert the next morning, wouldn't it be a long period of time where their dependents do not receive food or care?' she said on a radio programme on Monday.
South China Morning Post
22-06-2025
- Health
- South China Morning Post
Xia Baolong meets Hong Kong district officers and visits ‘community living room'
Beijing's point man on Hong Kong affairs has met district officers and toured a 'community living room' on the final day of his inspection visit, the Post has learned. Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) director Xia Baolong spoke to the chairs of the city's 18 district councils at the government headquarters in Admiralty on Sunday morning, according to sources. He then headed to a community living room operated by the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals in To Kwa Wan at noon. Beijing liaison office chief Zhou Ji, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, and Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han were seen visiting the facility with him. The spaces are a government initiative to ease the pressure on the tenants of Hong Kong's subdivided flats by providing them communal areas for cooking, dining, studying, showering and doing laundry. There are now six such facilities, mainly in Kowloon.
South China Morning Post
20-06-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Bill finally regulating subdivided flats in Hong Kong calls for speedy passage
It is four years since Beijing's top official overseeing Hong Kong affairs called on the city to get rid of its notorious subdivided flats by 2049. Xia Baolong happened to be on an inspection tour of the city when the government finally outlined proposed legislation next month to regulate them. That it has taken this long says something about the complexity of reconciling so many people's needs for shelter with a decent standard of housing. Advertisement This is a step in the right direction of finally eradicating substandard housing infamous for its shoebox size, poor hygiene and safety hazards. Under the bill, expected to pass before the end of the current Legislative Council term in October, the authorities plan to enforce the new laws from 2027, plus a three-year grace period, with landlords able to register their subdivided flats for compliance with official standards as early as March next year. The government is to be commended for taking a pragmatic approach to an emotive issue for both landlords and tenants. Definition is important. Thanks to media-fuelled perceptions, subdivided flats are all overcrowded, unhygienic and unsafe homes. Defining characteristics include less than 80 sq ft of living space, and lack of a separate toilet and an external window. But there are better-quality examples and a market demand for them, in common with some other countries, including Japan. It would not take much to bring them up to standard. Advertisement To make the regulation work, the authorities had allowed a grace period beyond 2027 of three years, a Housing Bureau spokesman said. There would be relief from accreditation fees for early registration.
South China Morning Post
20-06-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong shoebox home landlords may pass on costs to tenants under new rules: experts
Operators of shoebox homes in Hong Kong could pass on extra costs of meeting the government's proposed minimum standards to tenants, with some considering whether to leave the market, as authorities press ahead with a regulatory regime overseeing the city's notorious subdivided flats. Hayson Chan Hin-hay, chairman of the Hong Kong Basic Housing Units Operators Association, told a radio programme on Friday that certification costs alone for a flat subdivided into four units could be as high as HK$50,000 (US$6,340). The planned legislation, which was gazetted on the same day, marks an important step in creating a much-awaited legal regime to eliminate substandard subdivided flats, with enforcement scheduled for 2027. Under the authorities' plan, subdivided flats must fulfil a set of standards laid down for 'basic housing units', which include a minimum size of 86 sq ft, a ceiling height of 2.3 metres (7.5 feet), proper windows and at least one toilet for each unit. Landlords will be allowed to register their subdivided flats if they comply with official standards and remain on the rental market if they receive accreditation. The government will charge landlords a registration fee of HK$745, as well as a HK$3,000 accreditation fee per subdivided unit. But authorities will also introduce various fee waivers to discourage them from rectifying their properties at the last minute.
