Social Housing in Hong Kong

Does it seem to you that your apartment is small and cramped? Not enough square meters? Then you were not in Hong Kong. The total area of a standard apartment for 5 people according to local standards is 25-28 m² - this is about 2.2 m² of living space per adult and 1.1 m² for each child. In line for social housing in Hong Kong is more than 100 thousand people. Only, unlike Russia, the average waiting time for an apartment is only two years.

Today, almost half of Hong Kong residents live in "social" buildings and enjoy various kinds of housing subsidies. Renting a house in such houses is cheaper than in the private sector. In addition, it is subsidized from the income received from the lease of land and premises for parking lots and shops in and near the social buildings themselves.

Usually construction is carried out in remote or relatively inaccessible areas. However, as the city expands, it finds itself in the centers of urban areas. A significant part of the constructed real estate is represented by high-rise buildings, and in recent years (since 2005) they have reached a height of 40 floors.

I visited an ordinary three-room apartment in such a house on the 19th floor. The total area is about 28 m².

I don’t know how much such an apartment in “social rent” costs for local residents, but I know that renting this apartment for foreigners (two students live here now) is 60,000 rubles a month.

The view from the first room, in combination it is a hall. On the left is the front door, behind the curtain is a window. To the right behind the wall is the bathroom and further on is the bedroom.

View from the front door. The kitchen is on the right, in the center is the hall (it is very large).

Normal bathroom. There is nothing to reduce here.

The kitchen is smaller than the bathroom, only 2.5 m².

Sink, window sill and window.

First bedroom, 5 m². Bed from wall to wall.

A monoblock air conditioner is built into the window.

The second bedroom, it is a little larger - 6 meters.

Landing. An interesting point - there are two elevators in the building, one stops on even floors, the other on odd floors.

Mailboxes on the ground floor. Everything is clean and tidy.

The picture from the cameras is broadcast on the screen in front of the elevators. Someone wrote that concierges exist only in Russia. This is not so - there he is in the upper right photograph.