Extracted from MingPao (HK); Scroll below for original Cantonese version
Following the Policy Address last October, which proposed legislating to regulate subdivided units (colloquially “subdivided flats”) into “Simple Homes,” the Housing Bureau released a consultation paper in December setting out related proposals, including minimum internal floor area, clear headroom height, and requirements for compliant windows and toilets.
As a form of housing supply, subdivided units have their own supply and demand in the market. Provided basic safety requirements are met, they were not originally a social problem and could even be seen as a temporary measure to address the housing needs of grassroots residents. When Hong Kong lacks sufficient land resources to meet housing demand, the emergence of subdivided units—and even worse living environments—is hardly surprising. However, in recent years the housing market has become increasingly polarized, with many people unable to afford rent or mortgages, making subdivided units highly sought after. According to the 2021 Census, there are 215,000 people living in subdivided untis citywide, with an average living space of about 6 square meters per person. A blind spot in the data is that more than 35% of households in subdivided flats are families with children; compared with single-person households, families face more complex issues, such as family relationships, financial burdens, children’s schooling, and stress. The housing challenges faced by this group are more severe than those faced by single-person tenants in subdivided units.
Subdivided units affect more than basic living needs
When poor housing conditions inflict negative and hard-to-improve impacts on families’ physical and mental health and quality of life, subdivided units evolve from a market product into a social problem. Government intervention of the market is therefore not without reason. But how should subdivided units be regulated? This seemingly simple policy question actually touches on deeper academic discussions: how are people—especially in terms of housing—affected by their environment? Many scholars in Hong Kong and abroad have tried to clarify the relationship between the housing environment and individuals and families, for example, proximity to greenery and infrastructure, and environmental factors like ventilation and air quality; fewer studies have explored how impoverished environments affect quality of life and family relationships.
To address this, a research team at the University of Hong Kong (the Jockey Club Linking Hub “絡區樂居” project) interviewed 30 families living in subdivided units across five districts, examining the subdivided units environment through the lens of human needs (physiological needs; safety needs; needs for belonging and love; and needs for esteem and self-actualization). They found that the environment of subdivided units affects not only basic living needs, but also erodes families’ ability to address higher-level needs. When residents’ health is affected by a combined kitchen-and-toilet layout and ventilation problems, while they also have to cope with noise pollution, keeping out the cold and heat, and safety and discomfort issues arising from illegal structural alterations; and when family functioning is further compromised by the lack of proper space for dining and activities, it is only natural that they have little time to properly attend to longer-term matters such as their own and their family members’ mental health, privacy, vocational training, career planning, social development, and financial planning—not to mention that many must also deal with the challenges of adapting as new immigrants or raising children with special educational needs.
Adequate capacity is needed to handle problems brought by the new policy regime
Setting minimum floor area and clear headroom, and imposing specific window requirements (for example, windows cannot face enclosed light wells), are certainly measures that tackle the problem at its roots. But our research shows that households in subdivided flats face not only income poverty; they also suffer from time poverty, impaired family functioning, and a lack of social capital caused by multiple factors. Because the problems faced by these families are not solely due to the built environment, the government must be extremely cautious when constructing a safety net for poor living conditions such as subdivided flats. Crucially, the government and the social welfare sector must have sufficient capacity to absorb and support potential problems arising from new environments and new tenancy arrangements—such as construction costs being passed on to consumers, a temporary supply imbalance pushing up rents, and black-market transactions that leave the rights of both tenants and landlords unprotected. We are now in the consultation period for the new regulatory regime.
In regulating subdivided flats, we should first ask “why” before asking “how”; diagnose before prescribing. For families living in subdivided flats, the housing environment certainly requires basic safeguards, but is their main pain point the built environment? We believe that only when the government and the public have clearer arguments and scientific evidence regarding the relationship between the housing environment and quality of life—and then put forward corresponding recommendations—can we achieve the targeted poverty alleviation that the government has repeatedly emphasized. For social problems, if we have not made a diagnosis, then what medicine to prescribe and the schedule for taking it are questions for later.
The author is a PhD candidate in the Department of Social Work and Social Administration at the University of Hong Kong, and a research assistant on the Jockey Club Linking Hub Project.
Original version below:
隨着去年10月施政報告提出立法規管分間單位（俗稱「劏房」）成為「簡樸房」，12月房屋局發布諮詢文件，提出相關建議，包括限制最低內部樓面面積、樓底淨高度、須設合規格窗戶及廁所等。
劏房本身作為一種房屋供應，於市場上自有供求，在符合基本安全要求的前提下，劏房原本並不構成一個社會問題，甚至可視為解決基層市民住屋問題的臨時措施。當香港現存沒有足夠土地資源去應對住屋需求，出現劏房甚至更惡劣的居住環境，是正常不過的事。然而，近年房屋市場供求開始走向極端，社會出現太多無力負擔房租及房貸的民眾，劏房成為搶手貨。2021年人口普查數據顯示，全港共有21.5萬人居於劏房，人均居住面積約6平方米。 但數字上的盲點是，在劏房人口之中，有逾三成半住戶是有子女的家庭；而家庭戶所面對的生活問題，相對於單人住戶普遍較複雜，例如家庭關係、財政負擔、子女升學及壓力問題等。這個群組所面對的住屋挑戰，比起單人劏房住戶更加嚴峻。
劏房不止影響生活需求
當惡劣住屋環境對家庭的身心靈健康、生活質素帶來負面且難以改善的影響，劏房就從一個市場供求產物，慢慢演變成為一個社會問題。政府出手干預市場，亦不無道理。但劏房該如何管？這看似簡單的政策問題，實際牽涉更深遠的學術討論：人是如何被環境——尤其住屋環境——所影響？ 不少海內外的學者曾嘗試釐清住屋環境與個人及家庭的關係，例如人與綠化和基礎設施的距離、空氣流通和空氣質素等環境因素的關係；惟較少研究探討貧困環境對生活質素及家庭關係的影響。
針對這個問題，香港大學研究團隊（賽馬會「絡區樂居」項目）在全港5區訪談30戶劏房家庭，從人類需求的角度看劏房環境（生理需求、安全需求、歸屬感和愛的需求、自尊和自我實現的需求），發現劏房環境不止影響基本生活需求，更蠶食家庭處理更高層次需求的能力。當劏房家庭的身體健康受到廚廁合一的設計及通風問題所影響，同時處理噪音污染、禦寒、禦熱、非法改動結構等帶來的安全和不適問題，家庭功能更因沒有適當的用餐和活動空間而受損時，自然而然，他們將無暇妥善照顧自己及家人的心理健康、私隱、職業培訓、生涯規劃、社交發展及財政規劃等更長遠問題，更遑論當中不少家庭還要面對新移民適應問題，或家中有特殊學習需要的孩子等挑戰。
需有足夠承托力應對新制度帶來的問題
設立最低樓面面積、樓底淨高度，就窗戶設特定要求（例如不能對着圍封天井）等不同限制，固然是從根本解決問題。但從研究結果看到，劏房戶面對的不止金錢貧窮問題，而是由不同因素造成的時間貧窮、家庭功能及欠缺社會資本的問題。由於劏房家庭面對的問題並非單單因建築環境造成，政府為劏房等惡劣居住環境建構安全網時務必非常謹慎。重中之重是，政府及社福界需有足夠承托力，去承接新環境、新租務有機會帶來的問題，例如建築成本轉嫁消費者、劏房供應暫時失衡導致租金上漲，甚至黑市交易導致住戶與業主雙方權益不保等等。 現在正值新規管制度的諮詢期。
對於規管劏房，我們先應問「為何」，才去問「如何」；先看病，再對症下藥。對於劏房家庭住戶，住屋環境固然需有基本保障，但他們主要的痛處是在於建築環境嗎？ 我們相信，當政府及社會大眾對於住屋環境與生活質素有較清晰的立論及科學論證，再提出相對應的建議，才能達至政府多番強調的精準扶貧。對於社會問題，我們若未曾斷症，下什麼藥、服藥的時間表，就是後話了。
作者是港大社會工作及社會行政學系博士候選人、賽馬會「絡區樂居」項目研究助理
No responses yet