Hong Kong authorities should offer more timely and flexible urgent accommodation for residents uprooted by a new regulation aimed at eliminating the city’s notorious subdivided flats, lawmakers have urged. Their comments were made on Tuesday after the Housing Bureau briefed lawmakers on plans to reserve up to 180 transitional flats in urban and extended urban…
The Reverend Canon Peter Douglas Koon Ho-ming was blunt when he said, “Once there are no political issues, everything in Hong Kong is a livelihood issue.” He was also correct. Housing is this city’s biggest livelihood issue. It is also the hardest to tackle by far. The current administration has probably done more in this…
Hong Kong landlords have put forward just four of the city’s 110,000 subdivided homes for certification approval in the two-and-a-half months since a new law was enacted to phase out substandard living spaces, highlighting a low participation rate. Three of the applications were submitted by a single landlord, Hayson Chan Hin-hay, chairman of the Hong…
Elderly Hongkongers and people with chronic illnesses should protect themselves from health problems arising from high humidity by using dehumidifiers and removing mould, a doctor and a community advocate have said, as damp conditions are expected to persist until the end of the week. They said the public should be better informed about the health…
Only one landlord in Hong Kong has sought certification approval for subdivided flats since a new law on minimum housing standards took effect about two weeks ago, while applications for a grace period have been submitted for more than 1,100 homes, according to authorities. The Basic Housing Units Ordinance, which took effect on March 1,…
Landlords or operators of subdivided flats in Hong Kong that meet new government living standards can apply to CLP Power for smart meter installation. The smart meters, which now cover 90 per cent of residential households supplied by CLP Power, are open for application following the Basic Housing Units Ordinance taking effect on March 1….
Temperatures in substandard housing in Hong Kong could hit as high as nearly 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit), according to a study by two concern groups, who urged the government to provide an electricity allowance for tenants during summer. CarbonCare InnoLab and Kwai Chung Subdivided Units Kai Fong Association, which polled 31 households living in…
The accelerated development of the Northern Metropolis megaproject through novel approaches is a matter of key community consensus, Hong Kong’s leader has said as he rounded up a 1½-month-long public consultation exercise for his annual policy address in September. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu also said on Sunday that government policies had to consider macroeconomic…
Hong Kong should avoid negative labels for certified subdivided flats as they provide accommodation to people from all walks of life, the housing minister has said, while stressing that a planned shake-up of standards will not drive up rents. In an exclusive interview with the Post, Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho Wing-yin also said temporary…
Around 4,200 transitional homes will be sufficient to meet the temporary housing needs of tenants displaced under new rules that could require 33,000 subpar subdivided flats to undergo major renovations, Hong Kong officials have said. Undersecretary for Housing Victor Tai Sheung-shing told lawmakers on Monday that the government would set aside up to 20 per…