The subdivided housing rental control measures are now in full swing, but the subdivided housing mourning has never stopped-the "Landlord and Tenant (Consolidation) (Amendment) Bill 2021" was first read in the Legislative Council yesterday (July 14), and Two days before (July 12), a fire broke out in a tenement building in Tai Po, causing 1 death and 3 injuries.
Although there are reports that the murder case may involve emotional disputes, it is difficult to conclude from the narrowness of the photos on the scene that the harsh environment will not increase the emotional burden of the residents.
In fact, "Hong Kong 01" checked the news in the past five years and found that at least 19 residential fires occurred, resulting in 12 deaths and 48 injuries, and half of the cases were due to disputes.
The SAR government’s imperative rent control is of course better than nothing, but by restricting rents, can subdivided houses become larger, more comfortable and safer?
Can more than 200,000 sub-divided households in Hong Kong have a home?
A few days ago (July 12), a fire broke out in a tenement building in Tai Po, causing 1 death and 3 injuries.
(Photo by Yang Jialang)
19 sub-house fires in 5 years, 12 dead and 48 injured
"Hong Kong 01" counted the news of the past 5 years and found that there were at least 19 residential fires in Hong Kong within 5 years, resulting in a total of 12 deaths and 48 injuries. The more serious residential fires are as follows:
July 12, 2021-A fire in a unit of "one unit and four" in Mei
Wan Building
, Tai Po Rural Committee Square, caused 3 deaths and 1 injury.
March 6, 2021-A block room unit in
Po Cheung
Building, Yau Ma Tei suddenly caught fire, causing 1 dead and 11 wounded
January 8, 2020-a fire broke out in a "one sub-three" unit in Tai Hing Building, North Point, causing 8 injuries
September 7, 2019-a subdivided apartment unit in Hong Yip Building, Wan Chai caught fire, causing 2 deaths and 8 injuries
2017 August 13, 2016-Sub-houses in Meisik Industrial Building, Kwai Chung, causing 3 deaths
As far as the above information is concerned, the number of people killed and injured by fire in sub-divided units is relatively large. There may be three reasons: First, sub-divided units are "subdivided" by a large unit and several small units, and there are usually multiple families living together. Once a fire breaks out, it will spread to several households; secondly, each small unit has a small area and a lot of debris. If there is a kind of fire that drops flammable items, most of the fire is out of control; thirdly, some units have poor ventilation systems, even There are no windows or exhaust fans, which increases the risk of suffocation when residents encounter a fire.
In addition, among the 19 fire cases, there were many cases where fires were triggered due to disputes and suicides, and then accidentally affected other residents of sub-houses.
Although the government and society generally regard such cases as personal reasons, emotional problems are often a difference in mind. When the environment is narrow and friction is more likely to occur, who can conclude that a bad living environment does not aggravate the emotional burden at all?
For example, the "Survey Report on Inappropriate Home Affecting Primary Health" conducted by the Caritas Community Development Service showed that more than 90% of the respondents (93.6%) were below the standard psychological quality, which was more than a similar survey conducted by the Department of Health six years ago. 46.2%.
From the post-disaster photos of the Tai Po subdistrict unit that caused the accident, it can be seen that there is only about 100 square feet of area. In addition to a bunk bed, there are a lot of sundries and plastic boxes. There is not much space left at all. It is hard to imagine how the suspect and the three deceased lived together here.
The subdivided housing environment is harsh, uncomfortable and unsafe, and some are not in compliance with the fire protection regulations or illegal construction projects, but the subordinate housing rent management is suspected of legalizing these illegal buildings.
(Profile picture)
Rent management failed to solve the safety and environmental problems of sub-divided housing
Every time a tragedy occurs, the public will be concerned about the problem of sub-divided housing, but it will quickly fade away afterwards.
The SAR government is even more outrageous. Since the tragedy of the Fa Yuen Street stall fire in 2011, it has only noticed the existence and harm of sub-divided houses. However, after 10 years of harassment, it is still helpless with sub-divided houses. But there are no painstaking measures to control the rent of subdivided houses.
Why is it said that the rent control of sub-divided houses is better than none?
Residents of subdivided houses have limited financial capabilities, but rents are often prohibitively expensive. For example, a survey released by the "Hong Kong Concerned Subdivided Housing Platform" in 2019 showed that the average rent-to-income ratio of subdivided households was as high as 41%, which shows that high rents cannibalize the grassroots wage.
Moreover, the growth rate of subdivided housing rents is often higher than that of normal units. Take the Hong Kong Subdivided Housing Rental (Comprehensive) Index compiled by the "Hong Kong Concerned Subdivided Housing Platform" as an example. In 2019, the subdivided housing rent index was as high as 443, an increase from 2018. However, in the same period, the increase in the index of various types of private residential units in Hong Kong was only 5.8%.
After repeated reflections, the SAR government finally established a "subdivided housing" rental control research team last year, and then drafted the "Landlord and Tenant (Consolidation) (Amendment) Bill 2021" based on the report of the team. Perform the first reading.
The problem is that, according to the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Chen Fan, the relevant bill aims to prevent tenants from being overcharged by the landlord for utility bills, and to prevent them from being arbitrarily increased when they renew their leases—that is, despite the “rental” once It is not limited to "rents," but apart from rents, the draft does not fully protect the reasonable rights of tenants, and it fails to regulate the environment and safety of residences and other appropriate issues.
After taking office as the Secretary of Transport and Housing, Chen Fan visited the tenants of the subdivisions and couldn't help crying at the residents' meeting.
(Profile picture/Photo by Wu Zhongkun)
15% maximum rent increase, no initial rent
Why is it not painful or itchy to control the rental of subdivided houses?
This is because even though the draft can only regulate rents, some of the arrangements have failed to reduce the burden on the grassroots tenants. For example, there is no “initial rent” and retrospective period, and the two-year rent increase ceiling is maintained at a high 15%. Encouraging property owners to join the sub-divided housing market.
First of all, concern groups have been advocating that the rent management plan should be added to the initial rent, but the rent management research team claimed that the initial rent would overly tilt the tenant, in disguised form to infringe on the owner’s private property rights, and worry about affecting the supply of subdivided housing, so it is not recommended to establish it. .
However, without setting the initial rent and retrospective period, the landlord can take advantage of the empty window period before the implementation of the law to increase the rent significantly, which will cause the tenants to increase the financial burden and living pressure.
Secondly, according to the current rental management plan submitted, sub-house tenants will be guaranteed a four-year tenure. The lease period is fixed at two years, and the landlord cannot propose to terminate the contract during the period. It stands to reason that the regulations can prevent tenants from being blocked by the landlord. Forced eviction to protect the right of residence of the tenants of the subdivided housing-but the problem is that after the tenant has lived for two years, the landlord can increase the rent by up to 15%. Take the median monthly rent of 4,800 yuan as an example. , The rent can be increased up to 5,520 yuan, and this increase of several hundred yuan is not easy for sub-divided households whose average monthly income is only 15,000 yuan.
The Liaison Office is also concerned about the problem of sub-divided housing in Hong Kong. Why is the Hong Kong Government still "opening its eyes and closing its eyes"?
(Picture of Liaison Office)
Rent control will legalize sub-divided housing in a disguised form?
The sub-district environment is harsh, uncomfortable and unsafe, and some do not comply with fire protection regulations or illegal construction projects. It is really inhumane for citizens to be forced to live in them.
Therefore, as early as the tragedy of the stall fire on Fa Yuen Street in 2011, there were voices in the community calling for the SAR government to strictly enforce the law and completely ban subordinated housing.
However, over the past 10 years, the relevant issues are still in a stalemate, because the authorities have always "opened only their eyes and closed their eyes" to the existence of subdivided housing on the grounds that the housing supply was insufficient to accommodate many grassroots citizens.
Interestingly, this time rent control is not only applicable to sub-divided houses in residential buildings, but also to sub-divided houses in industrial and commercial buildings or temporary structures such as rooftop houses and terrace houses. It is inevitable that people will question whether the Hong Kong government will change in disguise. Legalization of illegal subdivided housing?
In this regard, Chen Fan denied the relevant claims at the press conference and reiterated that rent control will not affect the enforcement actions taken by government departments in accordance with current laws, especially in the areas of building safety and fire safety.
However, the platforms and rooftop sub-divided buildings are illegal structures outside the building, and they are usually the objects of the Buildings Department's order to be demolished. However, in order to avoid homelessness, residents generally do not risk their homes being demolished. Report to the government, and even if the sub-houses were demolished, most of them moved from one illegal structure to another.
It is undeniable that in the short term, it is an "impossible task" to completely ban subordinated housing.
However, if the SAR government has long used the above-mentioned reasons to "indulge" the existence of subdivided housing, and is unwilling to set a clear "timetable for banning subordinated housing," and then aggressively expropriate land and build public housing to achieve its policy goals, then subdivided housing will only be used. Will continue to exist, the grassroots will not be able to enjoy a suitable place for a long time, and the heartache and helpless mourning of the sub-houses will also be played for a long time.