Rent increases for people live in rooms the size of a ping-pong table create an urgent need for city officials to find a solution, Subdivided Flats Concerning Platform in Hong Kong says
Vacant schools or other idle sites in Hong Kong should be used to build temporary housing for families living in the city’s so-called coffin homes, a concern group said on Sunday.
Coffin homes are subdivided flats that derive their name from their cramped quarters. The typical living area for each tenant is 45 square feet, about the size of a ping-pong table, said Subdivided Flats Concerning Platform in Hong Kong, which conducted a recent study on coffin homes.
Even the cost of coffin homes is increasing in the world’s most expensive housing market, as the study found that families were spending 36.3 per cent of household income on rent, up from 33.9 per cent a year ago.
As the government begins a five-month public consultation to gather information on ways to increase the city’s land supply for housing developments, the group’s convenor, Lai Kin-kwok, said people living in coffin homes cannot afford to wait that long.
