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Subdivided house households borrow money to survive the epidemic

2022-09-18T07:49:28.258Z


The epidemic has made households in subdivided houses more expensive, and the high utility bills have even hit their living environment. A survey found that 89% of subdivided housing households have never received water bills from the Water Supplies Department, and most of them are charged by owners or intermediaries based on their private water meters.


The epidemic has made households in subdivided houses more expensive, and the high utility bills have even hit their living environment.

A survey found that 89% of subdivided housing households have never received water bills from the Water Supplies Department. Most of them are charged by the owners or intermediaries based on their private water meters. Pay a monthly maximum of 592 yuan for water bills. If calculated by the Water Supplies Department's standard 4-month water bill, the total amount of water bills is as high as 2,500 yuan. "Secondary use", life is even more difficult under the circumstances of her husband's zero income during the epidemic.

Some grassroots organizations urge legislation to stipulate that owners must provide approved independent water meters when renting out subdivided housing units, so as to prevent excessive water and electricity charges.


Nearly 90% have never received the water bill from the Water Supplies Department. The water bill is calculated by the owner or intermediary alone

The Civil Society Service Centre interviewed 267 residents living in subdivided flats in Sham Shui Po and To Kwa Wan in July this year to conduct a questionnaire survey on issues such as housing rental expenses, public housing rental subsidies and water bill treatment. About 19% of the respondents were 72% of households of 1 to 2 persons are 3 to 4 persons.

The median household income of respondents living in subdivided housing was $13,000. 67% of the respondents had waited for public housing for three years or more, and 26% of them had waited for more than seven years to go upstairs.

The survey found that 89% of the interviewed subdivided housing households have never received a water bill issued by the Water Supplies Department, nor have they registered an independent water meter, and 84% of the interviewed directly pay the water fee to the owner or real estate agent, and let the other party calculate each cubic meter. Taking To Kwa Wan as an example, more than 60% of the interviewed subdivided housing households were charged between RMB 11.97 and RMB 17 per cubic meter of water, far exceeding the fourth level of the Water Supplies Department of RMB 9.05 per cubic meter. Level.

Therefore, 97% of the respondents agreed with the pilot scheme for the installation of independent water meters in subdivided premises launched by the Water Supplies Department in the middle of last year, which should allow tenants to apply for installation on their own.

In addition, the Housing Department launched a three-year cash subsidy last year to provide non-CSSA applicants who have waited for more than three years for public housing and have not been allocated a monthly cash subsidy of 1,300 to 3,900 per month. The amount can reduce the financial pressure on the family, and I hope it will continue.

A single-month water bill for a family of four in subdivided housing is up to 592 yuan: I don’t know how to count

Wenwen's family of four lives in a 150-square-foot subdivided flat. The rent is 6,200 yuan, and the water bill is calculated at 16 yuan per cubic meter from a private water meter. Since the toilets in the old tenement building did not have salt water, they used fresh water for flushing in disguise. Due to the large amount of water consumption, Wenwen has charged a water bill of up to RMB 592 per month. If the water bill is calculated according to the standard monthly water bill of the Water Supplies Department in April, the total amount of water bill is as high as RMB 2,500. The monthly income is about 17,000 yuan, and the rent and utilities and miscellaneous expenses account for nearly half of the labor. The additional expenses of the two 7-year-old and 4-year-old SEN children have not been accounted for, so they can only live on a tight schedule each month.

She also said that the epidemic has hit the construction industry hard. Her husband has tried to start work in a single month and earn zero income. He can only borrow money from relatives and friends to pay rent. For the rest of the food expenses, he has to ask grass-roots organizations for help, which is supported by food aid.

She lamented that the rent expense has made the family financially difficult, and the water bill is even more "flushing water is like flushing money away". She knows that after the Water Supplies Department installs an independent water meter, the first 12 cubic meters of water per household will be free per quarter, and the rest will be graded It is estimated that if the installation is successful, the water bill will be saved by at least 300 to 400 yuan. I hope that the Water Supplies Department will allow tenants to apply by themselves, without the need for the owner's consent.

Jiajia's family of four also lives in subdivided housing units of more than 100 square feet. The water bill is calculated by the real estate agency at 15 yuan per cubic meter for a private water meter. The average monthly water bill is as high as 300 yuan. She does everything she can to save water. The fresh water used for hand-washing clothes is used for mopping the floor, or the water used for washing rice is used for washing vegetables. Try to use "secondary water" as much as possible.

She learned that after the Water Supplies Department launched a pilot scheme for installing independent water meters in subdivided premises, she asked the agency for approval, but the agency refused on the grounds that the owner was not in Hong Kong. So far, the installation of independent water meters has not been successful.

Zhang Dezheng, director of the civil society project, said that the survey results showed that as many as 65% of the subdivided housing households interviewed were overcharged for water. In order to prevent excessive water charges, the Water Supplies Department’s pilot scheme for installing independent water meters in sub-buildings should also be extended, and more social welfare organizations and professional plumbers’ professional groups should be entrusted to assist in the installation, simplifying the application and speeding up the installation. Approval procedures to protect the rights and interests of subdivided housing tenants.

The subdivisions of industrial buildings are getting smaller and smaller, and the worst is 1.45 The group describes the residents as "parasitic people in industrial buildings." The toilet water is poured and the living is worse: the lawmakers who oppose the building of the golf course have lived

01 Community

Source: hk1

All news articles on 2022-09-18

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