Lawmakers have expressed concerns over whether landlords will take part in a proposed registration scheme for subdivided homes in Hong Kong, with some urging authorities to reduce the fees to increase the incentive. They questioned the government’s approach at a Legislative Council panel meeting on Monday, where officials discussed the latest proposal for the scheme…
Advocacy groups and tenants have urged Hong Kong authorities to adjust proposals for regulating below-standard subdivided flats, calling for bigger minimum sizes and permanent resettlement as a public consultation ended. Some tenants on Monday also said they had been evicted as their landlords had told them they needed to renovate their flats to meet the…
Hong Kong authorities have learned of cases of subdivided-flat tenants allegedly being evicted due to landlords renovating the homes ahead of a government clampdown on subpar housing, a minister has said. Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho Wing-yin said it was the first time the Rating and Valuation Department had received such complaints, which were filed…
Hong Kong authorities pledged to seriously follow up on complaints of forced removal of tenants from subdivided flats, as a two-month consultation on a regulatory regime to wipe out poor quality housing started on Monday. The government earlier proposed drafting new laws that would only allow registered subdivided flats – known as “basic housing units”…
Hong Kong landlords who rent out low-quality subdivided homes could face up to three years in jail and HK$300,000 (US$38,550) in fines under a proposed government plan to wipe out such flats. Details of the proposal were revealed on Wednesday, a day after the housing minister urged landlords not to illegally chase out tenants for…
More than 90 per cent of children who live in Hong Kong’s notorious subdivided flats show signs of spinal issues as a result of the cramped conditions, a survey has found, sparking calls from a concern group for families with youngsters to be given priority for public housing. The culprit was that children did not…
Hong Kong would have needed “at least a few more years” to wipe out its notorious subdivided flats if authorities had set standards requiring landlords to offer bigger homes for rent, the city’s housing chief has said. The government has proposed eight square metres (86 sq ft) as the minimum size, a target that has…
Hong Kong’s housing chief has revealed that many existing subdivided flats fall below proposed minimum standards, citing official survey findings that show about a quarter of these homes are smaller than required and about 10 per cent lack a window. Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho Wing-yin told lawmakers on Monday that the major issue for…
Tenants affected by Hong Kong’s proposed clampdown on subdivided flats will not receive priority for public housing allocation, with a minister saying the decision aims to prevent people from moving into subpar homes to game the system. Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho Wing-yin also said on Saturday that the government intended to start the legislative…
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu unveiled new policies targeting Hong Kong’s notorious subdivided flats this week, aiming to improve the livelihoods of about 110,000 households living in the cramped homes. But critics have hit out at the government, saying the policy legitimises the problem by effectively allowing 70 per cent of the homes to stay,…