When President Xi Jinping visited Hong Kong last year, he mentioned that "living in a more spacious house" is the aspiration of the people. The current government immediately handed over the homework of "simple public housing". The Secretary of the Housing Bureau, Ho Wing-yin, even threatened to eliminate "inferior" within ten years Subdivision.
However, before the completion of "simple public housing" and sufficient supply of "high-quality" housing, how can the society improve the imminent plight of subdivided housing households?
In the future, how can we help subdivided housing households transition smoothly to "simple public housing" or even traditional public housing?
Zheng Yongshun, member of the Legislative Council of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong and the convener of "Farewell to Subdivided Housing 2.0", accepted an exclusive interview with "Hong Kong 01" and said frankly that with the government's proposal of "simple public housing", it is time for the society to face up to the housing problem that has been criticized all the time—shoddy subdivided housing house.
He believes that the government should strengthen the enforcement of the "Landlord and Tenant (Consolidation) (Amendment) Ordinance 2021", and then explore the feasibility of a licensing system to further regulate subdivided flats to protect the rights and interests of subdivided flats.
Only 10,000 notifications received in the first year are far behind
The government announced early last year that the "Landlord and Tenant (Consolidation) (Amendment) Regulations 2021" came into effect. The regulations aim to protect the tenancy rights of tenants, limit rent increases in the next period, and prohibit landlords from overcharging utilities and miscellaneous fees.
Although the original intention is good, it seems that the Government still needs to strengthen the enforcement of the Ordinance.
Zheng Yongshun said that there are about 108,000 subdivided households in Hong Kong. However, the Rent Management Ordinance has been implemented for more than a year. The Rating and Estimation Department has only received about 10,000 lease notices as of December last year. Responding to Zheng Yongshun's oral question in the middle of the month, the R&E Department has only found 899 cases of suspected failure to submit lease notices. Zheng Yongshun said bluntly: "Assuming two years as a lease term, 50,000 (notices) should be the first to be reasonable. .When it was the first year, it was the deadline, but in fact, will it be able to receive 70,000 copies by the end of next year? It's a long way to go."
Insufficient law enforcement?
Zheng urged the Hong Kong government to catch up with the progress
He admitted that the regulation is a new law, and it is not easy to enforce the law. In addition, the authorities have not done enough publicity, so some subdivided tenants are not familiar with the regulation. As a result, the number of declarations is not as expected, so he believes that the pace of implementation in the first year is "slower" understandable, but he does not deny that the authorities will catch up.
He urged the authorities to strictly enforce the law in accordance with the rent management of subdivisions, building regulations, and related fire regulations: "The government responded that there were too many suspected cases, but few of them actually implemented the law. I hope the government can speak clearly. , We are really enforcing (law) and will be severely punished and taken to court. It will be better if there is a deterrent effect." He also pointed out that the issue of housing division has always involved the responsibilities of multiple departments. The establishment of a dedicated office may be able to better consolidate the relevant figures and crack down on illegal subdivision of housing: "There are many government departments engaged in subdivision of housing, some figures from the Rating and Estimation Department, some figures from the Buildings Department, and some figures from the Home Affairs Department, The URA has some figures, in fact, there is an overall integration so that we can better understand the situation of subdivided flats before attacking.” He hopes that the number of declarations for handing in lease notices can be “doubled” within this year.
According to statistics, there are more than 100,000 subdivided housing units in Hong Kong.
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Defining "inferior subdivided housing": it is unethical to get a price in the market!
After acting in accordance with the law and strictly implementing the rent control of subdivided flats, Zheng Yongshun hopes that the authorities can take the lead in defining the definition of "inferior subdivided flats" and gradually "eliminate" low-quality subdivided flats when the supply of "simple public housing" and transitional housing is stable.
Government departments such as the Buildings Department and the Fire Services Department currently have different definitions of "inferior" subdivided flats. He believes that the authorities can complete the research on what is "inferior" subdivided flats before the first batch of "simple public housing" is completed, and use "simplified" "public housing" and transitional housing instead: "I think that at least 20% of the subdivided housing is in bad condition and unsuitable for people to live in...but the government corrects more than 300 of them every year. Is law enforcement bad? Not to mention that some owners feel that there is a market value for them (subdivided households) in urban areas...they (subdivided households) have no regulations at all, no moral (moral) and The rule...it’s better to draw a line and let them (owners) know what kind of room you have, and we will definitely sue you.”
Zheng Yongshun said that after the "inferior quality" standard is set, the licensing system will be formulated to further regulate subdivided housing, such as stipulating the minimum per capita living area and basic sanitary conditions, so as to improve the living conditions of subdivided housing households.
Zheng Yongshun continued to point out that local hotels are also regulated by the licensing system, and the authorities can learn from it and apply it to subdivided housing.
Help build a living network and set up an application platform
Some citizens choose to live in subdivided flats for the convenience of commuting. Even if the "simple public housing" is completed as scheduled, households with subdivided flats may not be willing to relocate to the more remote areas of the New Territories. It seems that the demand for subdivided flats in the market will not diminish. In the long run, will subdivided flats still be "available in the market"?
Zheng Yongshun retorted that there are about 20,000 "simple public housing" and transitional housing units located in urban areas. He also pointed out that the living environment in the New Territories is relatively spacious, and many new buildings have been completed in the area, providing residents with more jobs. Opportunities, I believe that the subdivided household can still find a new job after relocation: "We just need to help him and help him build a network in this new environment."
It is mentioned that the occupancy rate of some transitional housing is relatively low. How should the authorities make better use of resources to attract more subdivided housing households?
Zheng Yongshun said that there is a lot of information on transitional housing in Hong Kong, but most subdivided households have limited ways to receive information. They may mistakenly think that the same situation exists in other areas because of the high occupancy rate of one transitional housing. Therefore, he suggested In addition to understanding the living area preferences of subdivided housing households, the authorities can also establish an official website to consolidate the occupancy rate of each transitional housing and let applicants know the waiting status.
Zheng Yongshun also revealed that he is preparing to "take a tour group" and organize more than a hundred subdivided households to visit the transitional housing, let them understand the facilities, supporting facilities and environment, etc., attract them to apply for occupancy, and bid farewell to the subdivided housing as soon as possible.
Rent management for subdivided flats | Owners of subdivided flats on Tai Long Street in Kwai Chung overcharged tenants for water bills and fined them $2,500
