The Hong Kong government has proposed allocating up to 180 “reserve units” of transitional housing to tenants evicted due to the “shoebox” flat reform.

Victor Tai, undersecretary for housing, said on Monday that the reserve units would only be provided under “very exceptional circumstances,” such as tenants evicted by landlords of subdivided flats and those in urgent need of housing.

The reserve units will only come from transitional housing projects in urban or “extended urban” areas, such as Tung Chung, Sha Tin and Tseung Kwan O, according to a policy briefing submitted by the Housing Bureau to the Legislative Council’s (LegCo) panel on housing.

Speaking at the panel, Tai said the units would only be reserved for three months. If the units were not allocated to anyone, they would become available again for other transitional housing applicants.

“Our aim is to have some reserve units in urban and extended urban areas ready for providing immediate support,” Tai said in Cantonese.

Elaine Chik, a lawmaker from the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), raised concern that the 180 reserve units may fail to meet demand.

In response, Tai said many current tenants of subdivided units were themselves applicants for public or transitional housing, and that the amount of reserve units should be enough for those in urgent need of temporary shelter.

According to the briefing paper, those who wish to move into the reserve units must undergo a review by one of the six government-appointed District Service Teams “to verify their imminent housing needs.”

Another Housing Bureau team will review the applications before allocating the units for a three-month tenancy.

The policy is expected to come into force next month.

Hong Kong passed the Basic Housing Units Ordinance in September, mandating landlords of subdivided units to meet government-set living standards. These include a floor space of at least 86 square feet, a ceiling height of 2.3 metres, as well as windows and an individual toilet.

The law, which came into effect in March, also requires landlords to register their units if they want to continue leasing them legally.

Authorities estimate that more than 220,000 people in the city live in “shoebox” flats, around one-third of which need major renovation.

According to the Housing Bureau, as of April 2026, there were 19,100 transitional housing units operated by NGOs and subsidised by the government.

Around 11,000 subdivided units have been registered under a grace period system that will give landlords three years to ensure their properties meet new government requirements for the city’s infamous substandard housing.

Victor Tai, the under secretary for housing, said on Tuesday in a briefing session with selected media outlets that as of Tuesday, around 3,000 flats – totaling 11,000 subdivided units – had been registered, NowTV reported.

Under the Basic Housing Units Ordinance, which came into effect in March, subdivided units are required to meet government-set living standards. These include a floor space of at least 86 square feet, a ceiling height of 2.3 metres, as well as a window and an individual toilet.

Units that pass those requirements will be known as “basic housing units.”

From now until February 2027, the government is allowing landlords to apply for a three-year grace period to give them time to get their subdivided units up to standard.

Operators whose subdivided units already meet requirements have been able to apply for recognition as basic housing units since March 1. Tai said that so far, four applications have been made.

Renovations

The Housing Bureau said it had converted two subdivided units in Kowloon City into examples of basic housing units to guide subdivided unit operators on how to upgrade their flats.

Tai said the fee for renovating a substandard shoebox unit to meet requirements ranges from HK$25,000 to HK$50,000, while the cost for renovating an entire flat comprising several subdivided units is between HK$140,000 and HK$160,000, according to the Housing Bureau.

He said that for a three-unit model flat, the work involved removing the toilet of one of the units so that the space for another unit could be expanded, and then re-installing a new toilet.

In addition, installed toilet exhaust fans and routing drainage pipes to the outdoors were also fitted.

When asked by local media whether operators of subdivided units might transfer such costs to tenants, therefore increasing their rent, Tai said that would be up to the landlords.

The official said that just like with running any business, there are costs involved in operating subdivided units, but that he believed landlords could earn back those costs within a few months of converting the homes into basic housing units.

Subdivided unit operators are required to hire a registered surveyor or architect to certify that the flats meet the government’s requirements.

Earlier in March, the Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors estimated that operators will have to spend at least HK$15,000 to have a flat with up to four subdivided units certified.

By Catherine Lai

Hong Kong resident Lisa Lau put on a costume drama as she settled on the bed that occupies much of her tiny apartment, trying to take her mind off a looming eviction.

Subdivided flats like Lau’s three-square-metre (32-square-feet) home — made by splitting up an apartment into smaller units — are being phased out after a law to regulate them came into effect in March.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered the wealthy finance hub to resolve housing woes that are the result of decades of pervasive inequality, an acute housing shortage and eye-watering rents.

The Hong Kong government has given owners who register under the new system until 2030 to renovate their subdivided flats, but some landlords have already issued eviction notices to their tenants.

“I’ll stay here day by day,” Lau, a 48-year-old welfare recipient who had received an eviction notice months ago, told AFP.

“I don’t know (where to go),” said Lau, who lives on the equivalent of about US$930 a month, of which US$330 go for rent.

“I’m scratching my head.”

The new rules ban flats smaller than eight square metres (86 square feet) and mandate safety and hygiene standards, such as having at least one openable window, a sink and a toilet in an enclosed space.

Authorities estimate that more than 220,000 people in the city of 7.5 million live in so-called “shoebox” flats, around one-third of which need major renovation.

Lau’s cubicle is one of nine in a single unit, separated by thin wooden dividers, in a 60-year-old building in one of Hong Kong’s poorest neighbourhoods, Sham Shui Po.

With no kitchen, she makes soup or noodles in a rice cooker placed on the bed.

She uses a shared toilet and shower, and has taped a foam board across the bottom of her doorway to keep out rats and cockroaches.

Unaffordable housing

Despite the cramped conditions, Lau is reluctant to leave a familiar area where she has built a social network, and hopes her application for transitional housing nearby would be approved.

“As long as the landlord doesn’t come (to evict residents), we are so at peace, we are so comfortable,” she said.

The Housing Bureau said over 100 households had already moved out of Lau’s building, and that it was helping the 40 that are left to find suitable accommodation.

The Society for Community Organisation, an NGO that works with underprivileged groups, said the reform could help alleviate some of the worst living environments in Hong Kong.

But more government housing is needed, especially in the central areas, said Sze Lai-shan, the group’s deputy director.

“Don’t expect these people who live in very small flats to move into the new basic housing units. They won’t be able to afford it,” she said.

“A lot of the poorest people will be very dependent on the government to resettle them.”

The charity knows of around 300 households threatened with forcible eviction from subdivided flats, with more expected to follow, according to Sze — far more than the 35 notices the government said it had received.

Some residents have moved into public or transitional housing, while others have moved into other substandard flats as a temporary measure, Sze added.

‘Coffin homes’

Liu Xiaoli, who faces eviction from her subdivided flat, works two part-time jobs as a cook and cleaner to make ends meet after her divorce, and supports her daughter and granddaughter in mainland China.

“If the rent here or in other places goes up, I really can’t afford it,” the 63 year-old told AFP, adding that she was unable to find alternate accommodation nearby.

“I couldn’t find any (apartments) that meet the government’s requirements,” she said.

“Right now, I’m just delaying as much as I can.”

In response to AFP’s inquiry, the government said it had “significantly increased public housing supply” with an aim to produce around 196,000 units in the next five years, and sped up the process for residents on the waiting list for public housing.

These measures would contribute to “reduced demand” for subdivided units, keeping rents at bay, a Housing Bureau spokesperson said in a statement.

The new rules do not apply to notorious “coffin homes”, cubicles stacked on top of each other like bunk beds in shabby dormitories.

Wan Hon-cheung, 64, has been living in a plywood box about the size of a single bed for the last 10 years, and hopes the government will improve conditions for residents like him as well.

He often gets bitten by bedbugs and walks with a cane, making climbing up and down from his bed difficult.

“For us lower classes… this is reality, there’s nothing to complain about.”