By Katerina Lai
Hong Kong resident Lisa Lau put on costume drama as she settled into the bed that takes up most of her tiny apartment, trying to take her mind off an impending eviction.
Split dwellings like Lau’s three-square-metre home – made by dividing an apartment into smaller units – are being phased out following a law to regulate them came into force in March.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered the wealthy financial center to address housing problems that are the result of decades of widespread inequality, acute housing shortages and skyrocketing rents.
The Hong Kong government has given landlords who register under the new system until 2030 to renovate their shared flats, but some landlords have already issued eviction notices to their tenants.
“I will stay here every day,” Lau, a 48-year-old welfare recipient who received an eviction notice months ago, told AFP.
“I don’t know (where to go),” said Lau, who lives on about $930 a month, of which $330 goes to rent.
“I’m scratching my head.”
The new rules ban dwellings smaller than eight square meters (86 square feet) and mandate safety and hygiene standards, such as having at least one open window, a sink and a toilet in an enclosed space.
Authorities estimate that more than 220,000 people in the city of 7.5 million live in so-called “shoebox” housing, about a third of which are in need of major renovation.
Lau’s cabin is one of nine in a single unit, separated by thin wooden partitions, in a 60-year-old building in one of Hong Kong’s poorest neighbourhoods, Sham Shui Po.
Without a kitchen, she makes soup or noodles in a rice cooker placed on the bed.
She uses a shared toilet and shower, and has taped foam board to the bottom of her door to keep out rats and cockroaches.
Unaffordable housing
Despite the difficult conditions, Lau is reluctant to leave a familiar area where she has built a social network and hopes her application for temporary housing nearby will be approved.
“As long as the landlord doesn’t come (to evict the residents), we’re so calm, we’re so comfortable,” she said.
The Housing Bureau said more than 100 families had already moved out of Lau’s building and was helping the 40 that remained find suitable housing.
The Community Organizing Society, an NGO that works with underprivileged groups, said the reform could help alleviate some of the worst living conditions in Hong Kong.
But more government housing is needed, especially in central areas, said Sze Lai-shan, the group’s deputy director.
“Don’t expect these people who live in very small apartments to move into the new basic housing units. They won’t be able to afford it,” she said.
“Many of the poorest people will be very dependent on the government to resettle them.”
The charity knows about 300 families threatened with forced eviction from the segregated housing, with more expected to follow, according to Sze – far more than the 35 notices the government said it had received.
Some residents have moved into public or transitional housing, while others have moved into other substandard housing as a temporary measure, Sze added.
‘coffin house’
Liu Xiaoli, who faces eviction from her shared apartment, works two part-time jobs as a cook and cleaner to make ends meet after her divorce and supports her daughter and granddaughter in mainland China.
“If the rent here or elsewhere goes up, I really can’t afford it,” the 63-year-old told AFP, adding that she was unable to find alternative accommodation nearby.
“I didn’t find any (apartments) that meet the government’s requirements,” she said.
“For now, I’m just delaying as much as I can.”
In response to the AFP inquiry, the government said it had “significantly increased the supply of public housing” with the aim of producing around 196,000 units in the next five years and speeded up the process for residents on the public housing waiting list.
The measures will help “reduce demand” for detached units, keeping rents at bay, a Housing Bureau spokesman said in a statement.
The new rules do not apply to the infamous “coffin houses,” cabins stacked on top of each other like bunk beds in rundown dorms.
Wan Hon-cheung, 64, has lived in a plywood box the size of a single bed for the past 10 years and hopes the government will improve conditions for residents like him.
He is often bitten by bedbugs and walks with a cane, making it difficult to get in and out of bed.
“For us lower classes… that’s the reality, there’s nothing to complain about.”
