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Policy Address 2020|Renting a hotel for transitional housing will kill two birds with one stone or stay away from the ground?

2020-11-28T19:02:10.732Z


The Chief Executive Carrie Lam issued the fourth "Policy Address" during his term of office the day before yesterday (November 25), proposing to subsidize non-governmental organizations to rent hotels and guesthouse units to provide short-term housing for people with urgent housing needs.


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Written by: Cheng Xue Huang Yunna

2020-11-27 19:30

Last update date: 2020-11-27 19:30

The Chief Executive Carrie Lam issued the fourth "Policy Address" during her term (November 25) the day before yesterday, proposing to subsidize non-governmental organizations to rent hotels and guesthouse units to provide short-term accommodation for people with urgent housing needs. While the grassroots housing is in a dilemma, it helps hotels and guesthouses affected by the new crown epidemic to tide over the crisis of closure.

At first glance, this seems to be a good policy that will kill two birds with one stone, but after careful study, it is not difficult to see that there are many problems behind it, and it may even be quite absurd.

The new "Policy Address" mentioned that the government will implement a pilot program, and the government will subsidize non-governmental organizations to rent hotels and guesthouse units for transitional housing purposes.

(Profile picture/Photo by Zheng Zifeng)

"Better" does not mean "appropriate"

According to government sources, the authorities are currently negotiating with about 10 hotels and guesthouses, including hotels for renting out entire buildings and hotels offering individual rooms. The former may be far away from the city, and the latter may be partly located in Mong Kok.

The news also pointed out that the plan will be implemented as soon as the first quarter of next year, with an estimated lease period of at least two years, and a monthly subsidy of several thousand yuan per household may be required.

Allegedly, the authorities consider that non-governmental organizations operating transitional houses may not be able to afford the entire hotel, so they will allow multiple organizations to jointly operate a hotel. However, due to the remote location of these hotels, the authorities may require relevant organizations to use social enterprises. Form operation, such as providing facilities such as community kitchen or self-service laundry.

There is no denying the fact that the SAR government is committed to helping the grassroots with a very poor living environment, because whether a hotel or guesthouse, it must be better than a sub-district with only tens of square feet, poor ventilation, and full of safety hazards; however, "better" is not Not equivalent to "appropriate."

According to the 2016 population by mid-census, there were 27,100 housing units in Hong Kong divided into 92,700 subdivided houses, with 91,800 families living in a total of 209,700 people, that is, an average of 2.3 people lived in each subdivided house, and the average living area per capita It is only 57 square feet. According to online information, the average double room in a hotel is 200 square feet. If a double room will be allocated to a family of 2.3 people, the per capita living area is nearly 87 square feet, although it is still higher than the average in Hong Kong. 161 square feet is less than half, but it is indeed a lot more spacious. However, there is no shelter between the bed and the bed in the double room, that is, the family living in the same room still does not enjoy private space; even if the Hong Kong government is generous and willing Sponsor each family member to stay in a hotel room with an area of ​​about 80 square feet, so that grassroots residents can also enjoy private space. But just imagine, what family life can they enjoy if they are "separated" by the cold hotel room?

Because no matter a hotel or a guesthouse, it must be better than a subdivided room that is only tens of square feet, poorly ventilated, and full of safety hazards; however, "better" does not mean "appropriate."

(Photo by Li Zetong)

Moved from a subdivided house to a "better" subdivided house

Furthermore, the SAR government plans to provide 13,200 transitional housing units in the next three years, with lease terms mostly ranging from two to three years. However, according to statistics from the Housing Department, as of the end of September 2020, there are approximately 156,000 general public housing units. Application, the average waiting time is 5.6 years-not to mention that the 1.32 units are just a drop in the money for 156,000 families waiting to go upstairs. Even if they are "lucky" to live in transitional housing, can they be The successful assignment of public housing is obviously not guaranteed.

This may mean that after the expiration of the transitional housing lease, the tenants still have to move into the subdivided housing or other transitional housing again for "transition" until they successfully move into public rental housing.

In the final analysis, the problem is that the SAR government overemphasizes the "exchange value" of housing, while ignoring its "basic function" to provide citizens with an environmentally appropriate place to live, resulting in a continuous decline in the quality of housing for citizens-the smaller the area, the worse the conditions. The simplicity, the less the use of space, the more inconvenient community facilities, and the more estranged living in groups, have simplified the houses into "dormitories."

Regarding hotels or guesthouse rooms as transitional rooms, in disguise it is just to temporarily move the grassroots from the sub-districts to the "better" sub-districts, but in fact it does not fundamentally improve their "dormitory" lifestyle, let alone make them. "Stay in peace."

Transitional housing may act as a pressure relief valve and solve the urgent needs of a small number of households. However, to fundamentally solve the problem of insufficient housing supply, the government must show the courage to reform, completely reverse the housing policy dominated by home ownership, and build massively Only by renting out public housing can basic-level households not be displaced in the endless "transition", nor will the city be reduced to a cold "dormitory."

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Source: hk1

All news articles on 2020-11-28

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