Hong Kong has long struggled with sky-high house prices, which have rocketed by 350% in 20 years. Read more at straitstimes.com.
HONG KONG - A flagship US$3.4 billion plan by Hong Kong to build temporary housing to ease a massive shortage is facing fierce criticism over its high cost and the absence of a longer-term solution in one of the world’s most unaffordable property markets.
But critics have slammed the HK$26.4 billion price-tag, noting that each unit costs about the same as permanent public housing, and say the scheme is merely a band-aid solution to a festering problem that could potentially feed discontent. “Wherever the location is there would be opposition voices,” said Dr Simon Yau, professor of urban studies at Lingnan University of Hong Kong, noting the criticism over the proposed locations of the houses, some of which are in far away urban areas.Authorities last month announced eight locations for the homes that would have a unit size of 140sq ft to 330sq ft to accommodate families of one to five people.
A 2020 government report showed 1.65 million people, or 23.6 per cent of the total population of 7.5 million, were living in poverty. That compares with the city’s roughly 434,000 millionaires in 2021, according to a Citibank survey.Hong Kong is notorious for its number of subdivided flats, estimated at 110,000 units at a median area of 124sq ft, smaller than a parking space.
On Wednesday, the government scheme faced a grilling by lawmakers, who however passed a HK$14.9 billion budget request for building the first batch of homes.
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