Group Demands Rent Controls For Subdivided Flats

A concern group on Sunday called on the government to take urgent action to help people living in subdivided flats, including introducing rent controls and giving existing tenants priority in renewing leases.

The Hong Kong Subdivided Flats Concerning Platform said rents should be no more than 150 percent of a flat's rateable value, with limits on how much rent could go up when the lease is renewed.

The group’s convenor, Tang Po-shan, said the measures are needed to protect those who are exploited by their landlords.

“Many residents of subdivided flats, they use about 40 percent of their income to cover their rent. I think it’s not reasonable because many subdivided flat residents, they are grassroots. They get a very low income… I think it’s quite important to protect their rights by having a standard rent”, he said.

Tang’s comment comes as the government-appointed Task Force for the Study on Tenancy Control of Subdivided Units is due to submit its recommendations to the administration next month.

The chairman of the task force, William Leung, had earlier said members expressed a preference for regulating rent increases, but not the initial rent landlords charge tenants.

A study by the Census and Statistics Department in 2016 showed that more than 200,000 people were living in subdivided flats.