Hong Kong has been struggling with a housing affordability issue since China’s takeover, and it has been a government priority to boost supply of new homes.
Later this year, residents of Hong Kong can look forward to pay for living in apartments which are as small as prison cells. According to the Hong Kong’s Buildings Department, a developer has begun signing tenants for a project where most flats had a “usable floor area” of about 61 square feet, which is less space than an inmate cell at Stanley Prison.
Due to rising prices of housing, developers have been decreasing the size of each flat to make it more affordable – the smallest unit, below 200 square feet is known as “nano flats”. The demand for such small flats are overwhelming, thus resulting in more expensive housing with a skyrocket of cost per square feet and rising profits for Hong Kong’s developers.
An estimate of 96,000 private housing units will be introduced to the market over the next three to four years. Many of those housing units will most likely be tiny.
Hong Kong residents are accustomed to such cramped living conditions that even white-collar professionals are opting for micro living.
Wu Tung, 41, a marketing manager, has been living in a 160 square feet flat for more than three years with a monthly rent of about HK$7,300 (S$1,300). Mr Wu makes more than double of the Hong Kong’s median income, is proud of how efficient his place is. At the same time, he acknowledges that cramped living becoming the norm is “quite ridiculous”.
Affordability of housing in Hong Kong has become an ever more contentious issue and rising costs are driving expatriates away.
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Source: Bloomberg, 21 June 2017