Is Hong Kong’s drive to eliminate substandard housing doing more harm than good?

Housewife May and her three children were overjoyed last September when they moved into a 200 sq ft subdivided flat in Kwai Tsing, a Hong Kong district with one of the city’s lowest average monthly household incomes.

For years, the 50-year-old single parent had lived in a squatter hut with her son and two daughters, where they had to climb hundreds of stairs daily. They later moved into a 100 sq ft subdivided flat before securing their current place.

Located on the 15th floor of a lift-equipped building, their home has windows, two partitioned bedrooms, a dining room, a toilet and a kitchen. The subdivided flat also has room for a small sofa and a dining table, giving the school-aged children a proper space to do their homework instead of on their beds.

Relying on a monthly government subsidy of around HK$17,000 (US$2,170), the family could only afford to pay HK$8,300 for rent.