Kowloon leads as 70% of Hong Kong’s subdivided flats registered for grace period

About 70 per cent of subdivided flats in Hong Kong have been registered for a grace period under a new law aimed at eradicating substandard homes, with most submissions coming from landlords in Kowloon’s Yau Tsim Mong district, according to the Housing Bureau.

The bureau told the Legislative Council on Wednesday that 75,070 subdivided homes across about 21,000 whole flats had been registered for the three-year grace period since applications opened in March under the new Basic Housing Units Ordinance.

Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho Wing-yin said the properties covered about 70 per cent of the 110,000 subdivided flats identified in an earlier survey.

“Such satisfactory progress shows that most subdivided unit owners or operators are keen to be brought under the new regime in order to obtain a 36-month grace period first and then plan for the next steps of their flats,” Ho said in a written reply to the inquiry from lawmaker Steven Ho Chun-yin.