The owner is miserable, even lying down can’t straighten his legs
With a population of around 7.5 million people, Hong Kong (China) is still known as an expensive real estate market. Low-income workers have long been unable to afford housing, other than accepting cramped “coffin apartments” rents. These apartments are often subdivisions of a large apartment. Here, residents can’t even straighten their legs.
Duong Dong Huy, 58 years old, lived in such an apartment, only 3m2 for 13 years. However, even such a small room can still be rented for up to 1,800 yuan/month (about 5.9 million dong).
To enter this tiny man’s 3m2 house, you have to go through a narrow maze-like corridor that whoever comes first can get lost. Push the rickety door and you’ll see that the house has no windows. The area of the room is 3m2 but 2m2 is furniture. He only had 1m2 left to rest, not enough to stretch his legs
If you pay close attention, you have to admire the homeowner’s layout. When he could fit all the furniture neatly into a very small room.
At the entrance, he placed a table. This is where he sits down to eat, work, and stash his things in a cupboard at the foot of the table. Even the space on the table is not wasted. They were turned into a wardrobe by him with a hanging bar placed in the middle of the house
Behind this table there is a rest area with an area of only 1m2. Duong Dong Huy said that he only came home at night when he was sleepy. During the day, he couldn’t stay here because it was too stuffy and enclosed.
The left and right sides of the bed are flanked by wardrobes. To his left, he placed a shelf for storing daily sundries. On the right is an open cupboard for storing blankets, curtains and pillows when not in use.
When asked about home entertainment equipment, Duong Dong Huy said he only has an old tablet computer which he uses to listen to music and browse online news. In his small room, he tries to put a small television on top of the fridge. But the clothes hanging from above also partially obscured the view.
In the 3m2 room, he installed an air conditioner. However, in the past 2 years, Duong Dong Huy only used fans to save electricity money.
He said that 13 years of living in this apartment really made him feel physically and mentally exhausted because it was too stuffy and hard to breathe. Not having enough money, this is the only way for this man to stay in town.
It’s easier to be a bum
According to SCMP, Ms. Winnie Ho Wing-yin, Minister for Housing of Hong Kong, China, announced that in the future, the number of “coffin houses” will decrease after the new regulations. Specifically, private apartments built this year need to ensure a minimum area of 26m2.
“This restriction will help reduce the number of small apartments in future projects,” said Ms. Ho.
However, he emphasized that the government will continue to build micro apartments at low prices so that people have more choices.
Of the 8,926 apartments provided by the Ministry of Housing and Transport, there are nearly 320 small apartments with an area of around 17-18 m2.
A survey by the Social Services Council of Hong Kong, China from June 2020 to January 2021 found that about 7 in 10 out of 2,108 people living in separate apartments had no idea how long they would be living there. . The rest are expected to last for an average of four years.
Hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong and Chinese residents have to live in “coffin apartments” of less than 10 square meters. But they have to pay up to 50% of their income for rent.
“You won’t go hungry in Hong Kong but it’s very easy to become homeless,” commented SCMP writer Luisa Tam.
