A Balanced Opinion On This Difficult & Touchy Subject

**Me Jamie, your host, I am English and I have lived in Hong Kong for 53 years - I know the place.**
**I have personally completed 2,300+ Private Experiences (over 6,000+ guests) since April 2011 and I am considered one of the finest Private Tour Guides in Asia.**

**A blog post with a difference**
**Please do visit Hong Kong in 2025 | Travel, Tourism, Tours, Tips, Daily Life and my personal thoughts on Hong Kong.**
**Hong Kong | Pearl of the Orient**

Learn more | Go here for the Hong Kong Michelin Restaurant Guide which includes the Bib Gourmand Category

Learn more | Time Out Magazine Hong Kong - the best art and entertainment, food and drink, attractions, hotels + things to do

Tours, Experiences and Activities in Hong Kong

Private Tours Cultural Tours Walking Tours Sightseeing Tours City Tours Night Tours Transit Tours Shore Excursions

Book Now

| Cultural Tourism At It’s Very Best |

J3 Premium Private Hong Kong Tours and Experiences

Jamie, Your Passionate Hong Kong Expert & Storyteller

Discover Hong Kong - Pearl of the Orient

Learn about the unbiased, real Hong Kong | forget what you read in the press!

The Reality of Sub Divided Housing in Hong Kong 2025

A Balanced Opinion On This Difficult & Touchy Subject

Book Now | A J3 Premium Private Experience

Hong Kong - Housing for the Poor in 2025

Updated with additional comments on January 12th 2025

This is a very touchy subject in Hong Kong and has been for many years and I felt it time to say a few words about this matter.

Some Key Facts

As of the end of 2024 it is estimated that between 220,000 - 240,000 people live in Sub Divided Units, Coffin Homes and Cage Homes in Hong Kong, this is around 3% of the population

As of the end of 2024 it is estimated that approx. 3,525,000 people live in Government Public Housing, this includes both rental and sale units, this is around 47% of the population

The average waiting time for public housing in Hong Kong is 5 1/2 years from date of application as of 31.12.24

Housing for the poor so to speak covers 4 distinct categories

Government Public Housing with an average size of 30 - 39 sq m with an average rental of approx. US$295 per month
Sub Divided Units with an average size of 11 sq m with a rental of approx. US$385 - US$770 per month
Coffin Homes with an average size of 2 - 5 sq m with a rental of approx. US$230 - US$450 per month
Cage Homes with an average size of 2 - 5 sq m with a rental of approx. US$230 - US$370 per month

They all have one thing in common, they are SMALL - cage homes and coffin homes are for single people, sub divided units are for single people or small families.

To put this into context, our family apartment in a middle class neighbourhood with 3 bedrooms is 90 sq m

To get the US$ Figures for the Poverty Line simply divide the HK$ figures by 7.8

I have lived in Hong Kong for 53 years and have seen how successive Hong Kong Governments have dealt with housing for the poor so to speak since 1972.

In 1972 it was very common to see what we call squatter villages (shanty towns) which sprung up as a result of mass migration from China to Hong Kong in the 1960’s. The Government Public Housing Schemes which started essentially in 1954 were not quite at full throttle….. Even as a kid it was really something to see and try and understand the wealth gap that existed back then.

One thing that has always bothered me since I became an adult is how there seems to be a sense of entitlement here in Hong Kong when it comes to Public Housing, I feel a lot of people see the extraordinarily high prices of private residences and simply resign themselves to going onto the Public Housing waiting list and then live in a 30 sq m apartment for the rest of their lives. There have been a few reports recently of how young people these days in Hong Kong lack ambition and are quite happy to live in Public Housing… I always took a different viewpoint, quite simply I do not want to sponge of the state when it comes to housing, I do not want to live in 30 sq m! but that is just me.

I have a lot of sympathy for people who cannot afford to live in private residences and homes but our property market seems to defy all logic which is why year after year we win the “award” for the most expensive city in the world to live.

Fast forward to 2025 and things have changed a lot, I personally think that people are focused far too much on the Coffin Homes and Cage Homes which are only a very small % of the 220,000 - 240,000 living in undesirable residences.

… it is actually very rare for people to even mention that we have only a tiny % of homeless people | street sleepers in Hong Kong, as of the end of 2024 it was estimated to be only 1,400 - 1,430 people out of a population of 7.54 Million, I have seen over the years many places where you can find street sleepers and I have talked to a social worker friend and they mentioned that most street sleepers had mental issues and preferred to live on the streets and refused all offers of temporary accommodation.

Please read the comments below for a more detailed and recent assessment of street sleepers in Hong Kong.

I always find it ironic that people never mention the great work that Hong Kong Authorities do in keeping the street sleeper population to a bare minimum.

**New Lucky House, Jordan Road | Nathan Road in Kowloon, Hong Kong - quite famous for sub divided housing units**

I should also point out that my wife has many relatives living in sub divided units and public housing in Hong Kong, my mother in law and brother in law live in New Lucky House, see image above in a sub divided unit and they pay almost US$970 per month for roughly 13 sq m, but then again, they live in a very handy location on top of an MTR (Subway Station)., they pay a heavy price for that convenience.

Another brother in law lives in Government Public Housing so I am quite familiar with the conditions of living in small spaces.

Hong Kong is a very famous city on the scale of New York, San Francisco, London, Paris, Tokyo and such and naturally it is a magnet for people to come here and hopefully with hard work and luck, strike it rich… people believe the streets are paved in gold and they desire to chase that dream.

Reality is quite different, Hong Kong is one of the most expensive cities in the world to live and housing costs are astronomical, myself and my family have had our ups and downs, we will never be rich but we live comfortably.

The problem is that people forget that in every big city around the world is that there is a wealth disparity and for Hong Konger’s in particular their aim in life is to own property and sell it for a vast sum 10 years later, unfortunately not everyone makes it and there will always be a significant % of the population that struggle to make ends meet.

Officially at the end of 2024, 23% of Hong Kong residents live below the Hong Kong’s Governments Poverty Line.

… and there will always be Landlords that are masters of the whole property supply and demand situation.

One of the problems from where I stand is the Government Public Housing Policy which started back in 1954 and we are now at the stage where 47% of the population live in Public Housing (by contrast in Singapore the figure is over 80%) the problem is not really the size of the apartments but the lengthy waiting time to get an apartment which always seem to hover around 5 years.

To be fair to the Government one Public Housing Unit Apartment costs roughly US$100,000 - US$129,000 to build so you can imagine the cost to the public purse is astronomical and they also have to replace ageing buildings from the 1960’s - 1980’s, it is no small task and I am sure Government Policy does not regards Public Housing to be a god given right for the entire population.

The Housing Authority forecast that it would have to pay an estimated HK$147.2 billion (US$18.8 billion) to build 94,000 flats in the coming five years from 1923 - 1928 and much more beyond that date, this is something people forget in Hong Kong, they think that Public Housing grows and trees!

Here are some Government Guidelines regarding the Housing Authority and the cost of Public Housing

“To meet the public housing supply target, the HA envisages that construction expenditure will likely continue to increase. As such, the HA will remain vigilant in exercising prudent financial control, and will conduct annual rolling of the five-year budgeting exercise, and assess and review the relevant expenditure budget.

For estate management, the HA has all along been adopting the principle of prudent financial management and cost control during the preparation of financial budget. The HA also conducts review on the repair and maintenance contracts and management services contracts of estates from time to time, with a view to keeping the expenditures within the financial budget. In addition, the HA has been implementing a series of measures in public housing estates to savecost, such as installing energy-saving lighting fixtures in the corridors of residential buildings, implementing lift modernisation scheme for aging lifts, etc. The HA will also adopt innovative technologies such as the Internet of Things sensors, artificial intelligence and mobile devices to help daily estate management.

The HA has all along been adhering to the design principle of "functional and cost effective" and adopting Modular Flat Design to maximise the development potential of the land and achieve economic efficiency. The HA will continue to closely monitor the tender price movements, and follow the established mechanism in approving project budgets for implementing public housing development programmes. In addition, the HA will continue to apply innovative construction technologies, including the adoption of Modular Integrated Construction (MiC) approach, Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA), MultiTrade Integrated Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing (MiMEP), etc, to enhance productivity and shorten construction time. With such technologies becoming more popular and mature, it will help decrease the construction cost in the long run.

Note: The average construction cost per PRH/GSH flat is calculated based on the costs of building tenders of projects approved by the HA in the preceding financial year. As the number of building tenders approved by the HA and other factors such as scale and design of the projects, as well as market conditions are not the same in each financial year, the average construction cost for each financial year varies.”

Public Housing is small, refer to the figures above but by golly it is affordable and for a lot of Hong Kongers their aim in life is to get a Public Housing Unit as the cost is far, far cheaper than Private Housing which is why the average waiting time to get a unit is 5 1/2 years currently and the Government finds it hard to keep pace with demand.

… and finally the Government is cracking down on so called rich Public Housing tenants, ie those whose income and assets as a family are far in excess of the limits set by the Government, although I am not quite sure why you would live as a family in 30 sq m and drive a Mercedes Benz. The point being is that if your income gets above a certain level you have to move out and let a more deserving family move in… unfortunately no one quite agrees with this so the Government is reliant on neighbours snitching on you for a reward, they will contact a hot line number and report that Resident X has a fancy BMW or Mercedes in the parking space and your goose is cooked, time to move out and no doubt you will be put on a black list.

In figures between mid 2022 - mid 2024 the Hong Kong Government recovered 5,000 Public Housing Rental Units occupied by rich tenants who broke the salary and savings | assets limits.

If you want to take a deep dive into Hong Kong Housing issues then type into Google “Subdivided Housing Hong Hong” there are hundreds of great articles on this subject particularly Hong Kong Press Reports which are less biased and more accurate

Learn more | Fairly Typical article from the South China Morning Post about Sub Divided Units, Cage homes and Coffin Homes in Hong Kong

So lets get back on to the subject of Sub Divided Units, Coffin Homes and Cage Homes.

A classic case if there was one of supply and demand… how can you blame landlords for exploiting a niche market, if you are on a waiting list for Government Public Housing and cannot afford US$2,000 per month for a Private Apartment then where are you supposed to live? a hotel? a hostel? a serviced apartment?

Tiny spaces are expensive on a per sq m basis but a lot lower than the rent of a private apartment but still higher than Public Housing but you have very little choice in the matter particularly if you are in a low income job or unemployed… I was brought up to live within my means, you adapt to your own financial circumstances.

No one forces people to come and live in Hong Kong, it is a reality check for a lot of people, the streets are paved in gold and if you work hard and ride your luck then great but come on, there will always be a small % of people that do not make it and credit to them, they do not live on the streets, they find whatever accommodation they can afford and if they are a Hong Kong resident and meet the Financial Criteria for Government Housing then they will just have to wait for 5 years to get a proper small apartment.

Hong Kong is always listed as the world’s worst city for housing affordability by the way.

Back in 2021 at the height of Covid the Chinese Communist Party’s top official on Hong Kong Affairs, Xia Baolong, visited the city and requested The Hong Kong Government to fix “deep-rooted problems” in Hong Kong housing and get rid of cage homes, coffin homes and sub divided units by 2049. In response, the Hong Kong Government launched a taskforce in 2023, (we are experts in forming a task force!) and in October 2024 finally announced new reforms many of which will be implemented in 2026, the new regulations should be beneficial to everyone, the Government has also pledged to increase the number of Public Housing Units. There is no quick fix and I can guarantee that it will still take decades to fix the problem (hence the 2049 target date)

It is interesting (and a little known fact) that coffin homes and cage homes are not really part of the new 2026 reforms, simply on the basis that they are already regulated by law enacted over 30 years ago (which needs to be updated) I am guessing that the Government will update the law shortly but I also guess it is not a priority as cage homes and coffin homes are used by single people, families are much more of a priority as it should be.

The Government in my opinion is quite pragmatic when it comes to this problem, quite a few lawmakers worry about just how effective reforms will be, if you force landlords to upgrade the quality of the living space then this will immediately result in higher rentals for tenants and many of them may well not be able to afford them, so I guess there will always be a fair number of landlords who will NOT abide by the new regulations and continue to offer sub standard housing.

Learn more | A Guardian Newspaper Report on Sub Divided Housing in Hong Kong - January 3rd 2025

A very interesting and well researched article from the Guardian Newspaper online edition, however I always wonder how you can write a balanced report on this matter if the reporter is based in Taipei, Taiwan and not Hong Kong, unless you have lived in Hong Kong for many years you will simply not have the details to form an objective opinion and that is my personal opinion. I am pretty sure the reporter does NOT live in Hong Kong but clearly made a flying visit to investigate the subject and write this great article., I just wish they would write about our Public Housing Policy which has been a great success over the decades.

One of the other issues that rarely gets a mention is that people want to live as close to the city centre as possible, Hong Kong is 430sq m or 1,114 sq km which is a lot bigger than people think and many of the new towns being built and proposed in Hong Kong are far, far away from the centre of town which means a lot of travelling time and greater transport expenses, people want convenience and in a city like Hong Kong and in every City around the world, living close to the city centre means much higher rentals and quite often people will sacrifice comfort, size and conditions simply for the sake of convenience.

So, please bear in mind that a great number of people that live in sub divided housing, coffin homes and cage homes will qualify for Hong Kong Government Public Housing particularly if they are a family with children, that is the system and after 5 years subject to vetting you will get a small but proper housing.

I also understand from various people that a lot of single people from Mainland China live in sub standard housing, well, that is life, they come to Hong Kong to have a better life, some will not make it, no one forces you to come and live in Hong Kong, the fact is no matter what city you live in, you have to adapt to the harsh reality of living in that city, every city has it’s problems (think of the homeless issues in New York, London and San Francisco), I think Hong Kong handles it’s housing policies rather well and in general they will try and fix a problem, it may take years or even decades but they will.

Have a look at the images below of these sub divided units, cage homes and coffin homes for context.

click on the image to enlarge

Learn more | Contact Directly Michael at Hong Kong Free Tours for his dARK sIDE tOUR of Hong Kong

Finally, my good friend Michael of Hong Kong Free Tours offers a tour which actually shows you a small living space that would qualify as a cage home | coffin home, they actually rent the “apartment”. I think this is a fabulous and sobering experience but please bear in mind only a very small % of people live like this, simply for context one would also visit a Government Public Housing Unit to see the difference and again, Hong Kong has it’s dark side like every other city in the world.

This is the Hong Kong Free Tours description of the Dark Side Tour so to speak

Please note (and this should be apparent based on my comments above) that I do not completely agree with this assessment and I do not think that Hong Kong has a notorious housing crisis, I was here in 1972 when Public Housing was in it’s infancy and we had plenty of huge squatter villages and frankly housing conditions back then really were appalling and like I said I witnessed it, I used to explore a lot when I was a kid and over the past 50+ years the Government really has worked wonders.

I believe that if you are going to do a tour like this you have to give a balanced view and not just depend on shock value, I think I should also mention that all around Asia in many countries including China, living conditions for many people are truly awful, poverty is everywhere, not just in Hong Kong and I believe the Hong Kong Government does a tremendous job when it comes to housing for poor people.

I would also like to repeat again that no one forces you to live in Hong Kong, many people living in the so called poor districts are on the waiting list for Public Housing and are recent immigrants from China and other Countries, so for 5 years or so they may have no choice but to live in less than ideal housing.

Hong Kong will always have people living below the poverty line, that is a fact, that will never change, there will always be a small % of the population who will not succeed financially or fall on hard times but there are worse things than living in sub divided apartments, coffin homes or cage homes and that is sleeping on the streets and to me that is not a subject of concern for the Government as the figure is so very low and most of the people who do this refuse assistance, many of them being eligible for public housing and | or temporary housing and still they refuse.

Finally, please consider that every major city in the World including London, New York, San Francisco, Paris, Sydney and even Tokyo (in other words “rich cities”) have slum housing and many, many thousands of people living rough.