Social News
Written by: Wang Jieen and Zhang Jiamin
2020-12-31 18:00
Last update date: 2020-12-31 18:00
Hong Kong seems to be prosperous. As one of the wealthiest cities, the dark corner is where hundreds of thousands of people live in subdivided houses in harsh environments.
It is not easy to cover your head with tiles. Some people chop vegetables and cook next to the toilet every day, and children kneel to do their homework on the bed. Even a window becomes extravagant.
As the most basic level of society, where is the way out in the realm of the besieged city?
(End of series)
Hong Kong seems to be prosperous, as one of the wealthiest cities, but behind it there are at least 210,000 people living in sub-divided houses.
(Photo by Li Zetong)
At least 210,000 people live in subdivided houses
With high property prices in Hong Kong, subdivided housing has become a shelter for the grassroots. However, how many subdivided housing are there in Hong Kong?
In 2018, the Census and Statistics Department announced the statistics of subdivided housing in Hong Kong. According to the results of the 2016 population by-census, there are about 210,000 people living in more than 90,000 subdivided housing in Hong Kong, and the median living area per capita is only 56.5 square feet. This is lower than the 75 square feet standard for public housing.
However, the government has admitted that it has not been able to compile accurate numbers of subdivisions in industrial buildings.
Therefore, the actual number may be higher at any time.
In the annual progress report of the "Long Term Housing Strategy" published by the Transportation and Housing Bureau at the end of this year, it was estimated that there were as many as 122,000 households living in poor living conditions, 2.4% more than last year.
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Waiting time for public housing continues to extend
Hong Kong has the highest housing prices for the tenth consecutive year. According to the list of the most unaffordable cities in the world, it takes 20.8 years for Hong Kong people to "get on the bus" without eating or drinking.
The grassroots level wants to get rid of subordinated housing, and public housing has become the only dawn.
However, the waiting list for public housing has been repeatedly extended. The overall number of applications has reached 260,000. The average applicant has to wait for 5.6 years on average, and three years of going upstairs promises are in vain, let alone single applicants often take decades. time.
The Director of the Transportation and Housing Bureau, Chen Fan, pointed out earlier that to achieve the three-year goal of going upstairs, he admitted that "I believe it will take longer."
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120,000 households have only 1,200 transitional houses
The supply of public housing is limited. The current government's proposal to build transitional housing has become another hope for the grassroots.
Earlier this year, the government announced that it would "upper scale" and set the supply target for transitional housing in the next three years from 10,000 to 15,000.
However, as of October this year, only about 1,200 transitional housing units have been completed. Even with the 3,400 units that are about to be launched or are still in the research phase, the government has found enough land to provide only about 13,200 units in the next three years.
Compared with the approximately 120,000 households living in poor conditions in Hong Kong, there are still "more monks and less porridge".
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Rent per square foot: 105.6 yuan for a bed vs 35.5 yuan for a luxury house
Unable to escape from the subdivided houses, in order to find a place to live, the rent of subdivided houses has naturally risen.
Even in the face of the epidemic of the last century, the society was in distress and the rents of subdivided houses remained high.
The Social Association has published a study, and the lease of a bed with only 18 feet is less than the room, and the rent per square foot has risen from 91.6 yuan to 105.6 yuan in one year, an increase of 15%. On the contrary, ordinary private flats have rent per square foot. It only rose slightly from 36.5 yuan to 37.5 yuan, an increase of only 2.7%.
The rent per square foot of the sub-divided houses is even farther away from the luxury homes. In the eight years of this year, the rent per square foot for large units ranging from 1,076 to about 1,721 square feet is only 35.5 yuan.
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Subsidiary housing rental accounts for 39% of income
In addition, the rent of sub-divided houses invaded a large part of the income.
As early as 2017, according to the "Focus on Grassroots Housing Joint" survey report, the housing expenses of sub-divided housing accounted for 34.6% to 40% of income.
According to the report of the Social Association, in 2020, the rents of subdivided households as a whole will also account for 39% of their income, and two-person households can even reach 50%. It can be seen that the situation has not improved.
In contrast, the ratio of the average rent of public housing to the average household income of tenants was only 9.39% in 2019.
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Overcharged utility bills
In addition to expensive rents, it is not uncommon for sub-residents to be overcharged for utilities.
The Social Association published a study in June last year. The median electricity per kilowatt-hour of the subdivided households interviewed reached 1.6 yuan, which was nearly twice as high as the average electricity price per kilowatt-hour of 0.9 yuan. In terms of water charges, the water level per cubic meter of subdivided households interviewed The number is 15 yuan, far more than one-third of the official cap.
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Suggest a standard lease
Chen Yingtong, organizer of the Kwun Tong Subdivided Residents Concern Group, pointed out that under the epidemic, many subdivided households are still facing rent increases, and only a small number of landlords are willing to reduce rents. In the subdivided housing market, there are no lease agreements or stamps. It is very common, so it is recommended to formulate a standard tenancy agreement, "If there is no tenancy agreement, the owner of the property will have to move out any time... One day after the neighbourhood moves in, the landlord will immediately say nothing.
Chen Yingtong said that the number of transitional houses is limited, and many projects are still under construction. It is even more difficult for subdivided tenants to live in transitional housing than to wait for public housing. The chance of winning is like a "six lottery." None of the four or five plans are included." She took the Kwun Tong District as an example. For the time being, she had only 20 transitional houses in the Housing Society Garden Building. "There are 200 blocks in the house, and one can be drawn."
Chen Yingtong believes that useful rent control should include different elements, including regulating rent levels and rent increases.
She suggested that consideration should be given to not allowing rents to increase by more than 5% in two years, implementing "priority renewal rights", or adjusting the lease term to a three-year period of "one-year contract and two-year contract".
At the same time, many subdivided houses have a bad environment and believe that the government should set indicators for housing standards, such as unit area and sanitary equipment.
She also pointed out that if rent control can finally be implemented, the government should set up a department to monitor the implementation.
Chen pointed out that he understands the principles of the free market, but now many sub-proprietors "make all their profits", so the government should "make a move" to make the rental market more healthy and balanced. "Can you make money with a conscience?" In other words, the government should also make good use of the existing land to build public rental housing as soon as possible.
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No 10% increase per rent
Hong Kong Association of Community Organizations Organizing Officer Lu Qishan pointed out that the rent level of subdivided houses is high, and it is recommended that the government monitor the increase. For example, the rent can be increased every two years, and each rent increase should not exceed 10%.
She also pointed out that the government should grasp the status of different sub-divided houses in Hong Kong so as to formulate a rent index so that it can be used as a reference before renting a building at the basic level.
Regarding the housing environment of subdivided housing, she believes that the government can formulate guidelines. In the long run, the government should build more public housing as soon as possible, and short-term measures such as cash allowances should also cover more people.
It is difficult to completely make the sub-divided housing disappear in the long run
Lai Jianguo, senior lecturer at Caritas College of Higher Education, Tang Luo Fengxian School of Social Sciences, and convener of the Hong Kong Subdivided Housing Platform, pointed out that the government's implementation of rent control needs to monitor the rent level and increase at the same time, and there should be an arbitration mechanism to set the level and increase. It is recommended to follow the example of the Minimum Wage Committee to regulate rent levels and increases.
He also pointed out that after the "Subdivided Housing" Rent Control Research Working Group submits its report next year, the market will react faster than the policy measures, or the problem of rent increases will follow.
He suggested that the government should introduce a tenancy agreement registration system so that the government can record the rental situation and also achieve the purpose of rent freeze registration.
He pointed out that due to the insufficient supply of public housing, it is difficult to completely eliminate the subdivided housing. If the policy is too strict, the grassroots people will be forced to move to a worse environment at any time.
He pointed out that it took nearly 10 years to reduce the number of bedspace homes, and the problem of subdivided housing could not be solved by rent management alone.
He believes that rent control is only a medium to long-term solution, and in the long run, it still needs to cooperate with increasing the supply of public housing.
Wu Kunlian, a member of the Kwai Chung Residents Alliance, also pointed out that it will be difficult to completely ban the subdivisions in the short term, otherwise there will be more black market subdivisions. Therefore, tenants need to be protected by rent control in the short to medium term.
In the long run, it will increase the supply of public rental housing.
At present, the government does not have a unified definition of sub-divided households. It is recommended that the "Home Improvement Assistance Program for Low-income Sub-divided Households" should be referred to. If they meet the relevant qualifications, they can be defined as subdivided households.
He pointed out that the government can refer to the rental value data of the Evaluation Department and determine the level and rate of increase in rents for subdivided houses based on the increase in rents in the same district.
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Sub-house fire alarm
