HONG KONG: For part-timefurniture mover Kong Ngai-lam, 26, home is the bottom half of a bunk bed insidea tiny room that fits little else. Nearly 200,000 Hong Kong residents like himcall a wire cage or bed in partitioned apartments their home.
Making housing more affordable was amongoutgoing Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying's top priorities when he took officein 2012, but his administration has been unable to rein in skyrocketing pricesthat have added to discontent in the city.
"Over the past four years, despite a numberof measures by the current-term government which has successfully curbedexternal, investment and speculative demands, the difficulty in achieving homeownership remains an unresolved problem," Leung said in his swansongpolicy address on Wednesday.
High property prices and rents posed "thegravest potential hazard to the Hong Kong community as many families have nochoice but to live in subdivided units, even in industrial buildings,"Leung added.
Propertyprices have surged nearly 50 percent to historic highs since he took office,according to government data, and tiny living spaces have become increasinglycommon.
About 100,000 people under the age of 35, includingchildren, make up half of those occupying such partitioned units, a governmentreport showed. Non-government organisations say the real numbers are higher.
Read more, please click HERE
|