3 d. ago Winnie Ho Reports Progress on Hong Kong Housing Initiatives During Beijing Visit

Winnie Ho Reports Progress on Hong Kong Housing Initiatives During Beijing Visit  bastillepost.com

Politics

3 d. ago Meet the Hong Kong tour guide offering visitors an Anthony Bourdain

For most visitors to Hong Kong, no trip would be complete without a stop at The Peak to take in the city’s sweeping vistas or a walk along the Avenue of Stars to witness the skyline lit up at night. With such glitzy attractions having become synonymous with the city, few people would ever consider visiting a wet market in one of the city’s poorest neighbourhoods or a public housing estate slated for demolition. But for Hong Kong tour guide Angel Lau Tsz-tung, these lesser-known locations reveal...

Politics

8 d. ago Hong Kong housing authorities cancel contracts with firm linked to 5 site deaths

Hong Kong housing authorities have terminated three public estate contracts with a construction company linked to five workplace deaths in three accidents, despite the court suspending a ban on its operating licence. The move means all six projects managed by Aggressive Construction Company have been taken over despite the suspension order. The Housing Authority said on Monday that the contractor’s performance on three public housing estates was “far below” contract requirements. A spokesman...

Events

1 week ago Hong Kong shoebox home landlords may pass on costs to tenants under new rules

Operators of shoebox homes in Hong Kong could pass on extra costs of meeting the government’s proposed minimum standards to tenants, with some considering whether to leave the market, as authorities press ahead with a regulatory regime overseeing the city’s notorious subdivided flats. Hayson Chan Hin-hay, chairman of the Hong Kong Basic Housing Units Operators Association, told a radio programme on Friday that certification costs alone for a flat subdivided into four units could be as high as...

Politics

1 week ago Hong Kong subdivided flat owners ‘may pass on costs to tenants under new rules’

Owners of shoebox homes may pass on the extra costs of meeting proposed minimum standards to tenants or consider pulling out of the market, a trade group has said, with Hong Kong authorities pressing ahead with a regulatory regime to oversee the city’s notorious subdivided flats. Hayson Chan Hin-hay, chairman of the Hong Kong Basic Housing Units Operators Association, told a radio programme on Friday that certification costs alone for a flat subdivided into four units could be as high as...

Politics

1 week ago Suspect in Hermes bag robbery sent back to Hong Kong from Thailand

A man who fled to Thailand after allegedly stealing 14 pre-owned Hermes bags, a Van Cleef & Arpels necklace and two mobile phones worth nearly HK$3 million (US$382,170) in total, has been apprehended and sent back to Hong Kong. On Wednesday, a man entered a shop at Supreme House on Hart Avenue in Tsim Sha Tsui, rendered a staff member unconscious and tied her up before escaping with the items, police said. Confirming the Post’s report earlier, police said on Thursday that the suspect, a...

Events

2 w. ago Hong Kong’s shelved plan for 8,300 public flats to face 90% higher cost per home

Hong Kong housing authorities have revealed that the now-suspended plan to build 8,300 public flats in a northern town will face higher costs of up to 90 per cent for each home and require an extra 10 months to complete if it were to press ahead. The Housing Bureau said on Monday that the postponement was prompted by its ground investigation that the site had “complex geology with a deep bedrock layer”. “The authority stresses that it has not abandoned the project,” the bureau said. It added...

Politics

2 w. ago Hong Kong puts construction of 8,300 homes on hold in Fanling

Hong Kong’s housing authorities have suspended a key public residential development in a northern town consisting of 8,300 homes due to the suspected high costs of building the flats on deep rock strata, according to a lawmaker. The suspension of the development, including its site formation and infrastructure works, in Fanling came to light on Sunday in a document the Housing Department and the Civil Engineering and Development Department submitted to the North District Council, a day before a...

Society

2 w. ago Future of 8,300 public flats in northern Hong Kong uncertain as work put on hold

Hong Kong’s housing authorities have suspended a 8,300 public flat development in a northern town due to the suspected high costs of building on deep rock strata, a move lawmakers said showed serious failure at the initial planning stage. The legislators urged authorities on Sunday to invest more resources in land exploration to avoid such unexpected disruptions to housing goals that would only leave the public disappointed. The suspension of the development, including its site formation and...

Politics

2 w. ago Debt crunch at NWD stokes downside risk in Hong Kong home prices, S&P says

The liquidity crunch at New World Development (NWD), one of Hong Kong’s biggest developers, is a blemish on the resurgent housing market, threatening to shake confidence among homebuyers and trigger a “downside scenario” in home prices, according to S&P Global Ratings. The developer deferred coupon payments on four series of perpetual bonds after months of speculation about its finances, sending a poor signal to creditors about its default risk. It surprised investors last month by not redeeming...

Economics

3 w. ago Leeway urged for public housing applicants in Hong Kong to combat ‘lying flat’

A key member of Hong Kong’s Housing Authority has suggested offering some leeway to public rental flat applicants whose incomes are slightly above the threshold to prevent people from “lying flat” and earning less in order to qualify. Cleresa Wong Pie-yue, chairwoman of the authority’s subsidised housing committee, on Monday cited media reports as saying some families waiting for a public rental flat would quit their jobs, switch to part-time work or ask their children to remain unemployed after...

Politics

3 w. ago The future of retirement for wealthy Hongkongers could be this Zhuhai community

A Macau conglomerate is targeting Hong Kong’s affluent retirees with a new luxury senior housing project in the Greater Bay Area, capitalising on a shortage of high-end retirement options for the city’s affluent retirees. “There is a lack of high-quality lifestyle retirement [options] in Hong Kong,” said Amber Li, founder of Serensia Woods, a 13,500-square-metre (145,313 sq ft) retirement community in Zhuhai’s Hengqin district. The community, on an island largely in the Guangdong city...

Politics

3 w. ago Get elderly housing right and Hong Kong’s silver economy can take off

Hong Kong’s Deputy Chief Secretary Warner Cheuk Wing-hing has announced dozens of measures to promote the “silver economy” and address the needs of the city’s ageing population. These cover five main areas: boosting consumption, developing tailor-made products, promoting quality assurance of “silver” products, strengthening financial and insurance protection, and encouraging older residents to re-enter the job market. These are all good intentions, but it also begs the question: where is the...

Politics

3 w. ago Banned substance found in water supply of 2 Hong Kong housing estates

Black particles found in the freshwater supply at two public housing estates are mainly bitumen, authorities have said, while stressing that the water is safe to drink. The government said on Thursday that its tests showed the bitumen, which is banned from use in pipes, was mixed with resin. Residents at two public rental and subsidised estates, Queens Hill Estate and Shan Lai Court in Fanling, first reported the presence of black particles in their drinking water on Friday last week. Director...

Events

3 w. ago Hong Kong housing market bound for gradual recovery: analyst

Hong Kong’s housing market is poised for a gradual recovery starting in the second half of this year, as population inflows, falling interest rates and a rebound in rental demand restore confidence, according to Bocom International. The investment bank said home prices could rise by 3 per cent over the next six months, followed by 5 per cent increases in both 2026 and 2027, as sentiment improved amid declining borrowing costs while returning residents and arriving professionals boosted...

Politics

4 w. ago Source of black particles in Hong Kong estate’s water supply remains mystery

Authorities are still investigating the source of black particles detected in the freshwater supply at a Hong Kong public housing estate, while reassuring residents that the water is safe to drink. Tenants of Queens Hill Estate in Fanling had earlier complained about the black particles found in their drinking water and what they called a delayed ­official response to their reports, first filed on Friday last week. Director of Water Supplies Roger Wong Yan-lok said on Monday that samples taken...

Politics