# data[].attributes.body
Ameer Abdullah Jassim 20h
Interesting statistics you've got there


Add comment
 add

# data[].attributes.body
Hong Kong housing

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
GovHK: Introduction to Water Quality Issues in Hong Kong

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Your role in improving water quality in Hong Kong is very important. On a practical level, you can reduce your overall water consumption in showers and clothes washing to reduce the amount of waste water. You can also report any pollution incidents to the Environmental Protection Department so action can be taken to minimise possible damage to water quality and the environment.

# data[].attributes.body
Hong Kong was recently ranked the most expensive housing market in the world for the seventh consecutive year, according to the annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Hong Kong homes to become even more expensive in 2018, analysts say

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The dream of owning a home in Hong Kong will become even less attainable for those seeking to get on the housing ladder next year, as prices in the city are forecast to rise 10 to 20 per cent,...

# data[].attributes.body
Shows rooftop slums in Hong Kong

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Fifty-eight-year-old Hong Kong resident Chan Piu sleeps on a pile of newspapers on the floor because there is no space in his home for a bed.

He lives in a windowless room that is no larger than a parking space, and standing there, even for a few minutes, feels claustrophobic.

A picture of his late father hangs on the wall, watching over him silently.

It is a cramped existence, made even more so by the fact that seven other families share the same kitchen, toilet and small living area.

But when you step outside Mr Chan's room and exit the narrow hallway, you are greeted with a stunning view of the sprawling city below.

It is a penthouse view, but one that is only available to the poor.

Mr Chan and his neighbours are among Hong Kong's thousands of rooftop slum dwellers, pushed to the top of old apartment buildings because they cannot afford the spaces below.

These shacks are usually made of cheap metal sheeting and wood, with the interiors partitioned to hold multiple people or families.

During the summer the shacks get stiflingly hot, and in the winter bitterly cold.

Rooftop dwellers

By some estimates, Hong Kong is the world's most expensive property market.

Residential prices here have more than doubled since 2009 and despite a series of cooling measures, some experts believe prices may continue to climb even further.

In Hong Kong's working-class neighbourhood of Sham Shui Po in the Kowloon district, the buildings are packed together tightly.

A person on the street wouldn't know that on the roofs above, thousands of people are living in ramshackle and sometimes dangerous conditions.

Hong Kong is really an affluent city. But Hong Kong does not have a very good housing policy.
Natalie Yau, Society for Community Organization

Several blocks away, tucked in another old building is a non-profit organisation that helps the city's poor and underprivileged find a proper roof over their heads.

Natalie Yau has been working there for more than two years and says the government isn't doing enough to help people like Mr Chan.

"Hong Kong is really an affluent city. But Hong Kong does not have a very good housing policy. People live in poor housing just because of the failure of the housing policy.

"Now the government will provide public housing to low-income families but the amount is becoming smaller and that creates a long queue of public housing applicants on the waiting list."

Peak view

On a cold, misty day, I head up to Hong Kong's famous Peak district, where you can take in skyline views of the city.

It is pretty breathtaking, beautiful even, looking down. But behind the shiny steel facades and concrete blocks lies a much grimmer reality.

Poverty is a serious issue in the city, and that problem has been exacerbated by the lack of affordable housing.

It is not uncommon to see elderly men and women digging through overflowing rubbish bins, pushing carts loaded down with old cardboard boxes for recycling, or even sitting on the roadside, selling vegetables late at night. A large bulk of their income goes towards paying rent.

The lifestyle is very different on the Peak, where property prices are the highest of anywhere in the territory.

Interest rates are being kept extremely low currently and that means money has been cheap in Hong Kong so it's become very easy to get a mortgage
Simon Smith, Savills

Typically houses go for between HK$240m and HK$970m (£20m and £80m) but even flats on this much-desired street address sell for multi-millions.

Simon Smith, head of research for Asia-Pacific at real estate firm Savills, says a number of factors have fuelled Hong Kong's asset price inflation.

"The Hong Kong dollar is pegged to the US dollar, so effectively interest rates are set in the US by the Federal Reserve. As we know, interest rates are being kept extremely low currently and that means money has been cheap in Hong Kong so it's become very easy to get a mortgage," he says.

"QE (quantitative easing) is another factor, not just out of the US but Japan and China and it always seems to wash up on Hong Kong's shores in some form.

"If we look at the fundamentals of the local market place as well, there has been a notable lack of new supply of residential units over recent years.

The previous administration failed to provide new land to the market, something the current administration is trying to address. But it's not a tap that you can turn on instantly."

Housing hopes

Back in Sham Shui Po, Mr Chan is shuffling up and down the hallway, waiting to use the toilet - the same room also serves as the communal shower.

He doesn't really understand monetary policy and how it works. All he knows is that he's been waiting a long time for a place to call his own.

"I've been waiting two years to get public housing," he tells me. "But all the government does is talk and say there is not enough land."

It is unlikely he will be able to get it anytime soon. The average waiting time for families to get their first choice of housing is four years.

But Mr Chan is also faced with another predicament. If he is unable to find stable work, he will have to downgrade to an even smaller space, which this time, won't come with a view.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Fifty-eight-year-old Hong Kong resident Chan Piu sleeps on a pile of newspapers on the floor because there is no space in his home for a bed. He lives in a windowless room that is no larger than a parking space, and standing there, even for a few minutes, feels claustrophobic.

# data[].attributes.body
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/2125641/does-hong-kong-have-housing-crisis-answer-depends-whether-you?amp=1. It talks about how the prices changed over the years and how much families make

# data[].attributes.body
Hong Kong uses twice as much water as the rest of the world. 220 liters of water a day per person, which is 30% more then the international average

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Hongkongers use twice as much water as rest of world: Dutch envoy

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Special envoy for international water affairs Henk Ovink says city must face up to coming challenges

# data[].attributes.body
This website talks about how expensive it is living in Hong Kong. It’s says on average, if the person’s income is about 50000$ the cost of their home would be 900000$
It also explains why it’s so expensive
This is due to population, high demand to live and work

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Added to that, there's very little developable land left in Hong Kong, as liveable land is squeezed between bodies of water and soaring mountains.

Mainland developers are driving up costs

The land that is able to be developed is mostly controlled by the government, which offers land to developers behind the scenes by tender.

The land is selling for record amounts, increasingly to Chinese mainland developers, which in turn are likely to command record high prices for buyers for apartments and rental spaces built.

Recently, two Chinese developers paid a record $2.17 billion for a plot of residential land, which exceeded market valuations by almost 50-percent, according to South China Morning Post.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong's government controls nearly half of the total supply or housing through public housing rentals and assisted home ownership purchase programs, which are intended for lower-income families. Meaning, just about half of the housing market is available on the private market.

It's no secret Hong Kong is one of the most tax-friendly economies in the world. One of the reasons the government can keep taxes so low is because a large chunk of its revenues come from land sales.

If property values drop, the government can't generate as much revenue, meaning there's little incentive to seriously curb Hong Kong's cost of housing.

In fact, if property values dropped too much, the government could even have to rethink its tax revenue system.

The silver lining may be this: While Hong Kong's housing prices aren't likely to decrease anytime soon, the multiple of cost of housing to gross annual median income actually declined from 2015 to 2016, going from 19 to 18.1, according to Demographia.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Here's why Hong Kong housing is so expensive

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Added to that, there's very little developable land left in Hong Kong, as liveable land is squeezed between bodies of water and soaring mountains. Mainland developers are driving up costs The land that is able to be developed is mostly controlled by the government, which offers land to developers behind the scenes by tender.

# data[].attributes.body
Photos that show how small the flats are in Hong Kong

# data[].attributes.headline
Issues with housing in Hong Kong and the solutions known as "low hanging fruit" such as cutting away at the coast to create more free land, but also their consequences that come with it.

# data[].attributes.subject
Issues with housing in Hong Kong and the solutions known as "low hanging fruit" such as cutting away at the coast to create more free land, but also their consequences that come with it.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Hong Kong housing suffers from absence of low-hanging fruit

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Paul Stapleton says the government has arrived at its latest plan - involving blasting out the inside of a mountain - to make space for housing due to a lack of convenient options

# data[].attributes.body
Hong Kong was recently ranked the most expensive housing market in the world for the seventh consecutive year, according to the annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey.

The survey, which divides median house prices by gross annual median household income, found Hong Kong to clock in at 18.1. So, on average, if someone makes $50,000 in annual income, the cost of their home would be $900,000.

The 18.1 multiple soars above other markets around the world. The second least affordable city is Sydney which scored a multiple of 12.1. Even financial hubs London and New York pale in comparison coming in at multiples of 8.5 and 5.9 respectively.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Hong Kong homes to become even more expensive in 2018, analysts say

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The dream of owning a home in Hong Kong will become even less attainable for those seeking to get on the housing ladder next year, as prices in the city are forecast to rise 10 to 20 per cent,...

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.google.com/amp/m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/2125641/does-hong-kong-have-housing-crisis-answer-depends-whether-you%3famp=1https://www.google.com/amp/m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/2125641/does-hong-kong-have-housing-crisis-answer-depends-whether-you%3famp=1

# data[].attributes.body
Summary:

Hong Kong's housing astronomical costs area a simple case of supply and demand. The city ranks as the fourth most densely populated among sovereign states or territories , with more than seven million residents spread across 1,106 square kilometers (427 sq miles). In addition, there's very little developable land left in Hong Kong, due to the fact that it’s squeezed between bodies of water and soaring mountains.