Living in a cage in Hong Kong

[Monoriu]

Hong Kong, China (CNN) -- If you have ever complained that your apartment is the size of a shoebox, consider the living space of Hong Kong resident Chung For Lau.

Chung lives in a 625 square foot (58.06 square meter) flat here with 18 strangers.

The place is sectioned into tiny cubicles made of wooden planks and wire mesh. Everything he has acquired over the years -- clothes, dishes, figurines, a tired TV set -- is squeezed into this tiny cube, a modernized version of what is known here as a cage home.

With all the buzz over Hong Kong's exorbitant luxury property (like the recent record-breaking sale of a $57 million duplex), it may be hard to believe that people have been living in cage homes in this city for years.

But with Hong Kong home to some of the most densley-populated urban districts in the world, real estate has always come at a premium, no matter how small.

Chung's cage is a newer yet less-desirable model, we are told. The wire mesh one, which resembles an over-sized rabbit hutch, is apparently more comfortable.

Occupants have less privacy, but the temperatures don't get as high as in the wooden-mesh variety. A thermometer in Chung's home reached 34 degrees Celsius (93 degrees Fahrenheit). Sometimes it gets so hot, Chung said, that he wants to die.

Chung used to be a security guard. In the good old days he earned about $500 (HK$3,875) per month. But as the economic crisis set in, his full time job went to part time work until he was laid off this past summer.

As he stared into his bank passbook, Chung lamented that he wouldn't be able to make the $150 rent (HK$1,160) this month -- these cubes aren't cheap.

They are stacked on two levels -- $100 (HK$775) for a cube on the upper deck and $150 for the lower bunk.

The lower cubes are more expensive because you can just barely stand upright in them. Do the math and the apartment owner is collecting roughly $2,500 a month (HK$19,375) from these people.

The 19 occupants share two toilets. A small rubber hose attached to a leaky faucet is what they use to wash themselves. Social workers who monitor the apartments said the electricity is donated, so a few of them have TVs. One person on the upper deck has an aquarium.

One social workers said that because of the recession these homes are being occupied more frequently by those made jobless -- people in their 30s and 40s. The social worker said none of the younger people wanted to speak on camera for fear their chances of finding work would be hurt.

Chung, 67, is now waiting for welfare to kick in and is on a long list for public housing. The government says it is doing its best to meet its citizens' needs, but Chung says he has lost all hope. Economic recovery or not, he feels forgotten.

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/10/28/cage.homes/index.html

[jimmy olsen]

Absolutely horrific.

[DisturbedPervert]

Have you ever seen the business hotels in Tokyo? They sleep in tiny stacked cubicles all the time. They feel right at home.

[Monoriu]

Absolutely horrific.

Yes, that is the purpose.  Our teachers showed us videos of these cubes when we were small.  The caption - what failure means. 

[CountDeMoney]

Meh, rodents are rodents.

[Zanza]

So, are there any obstacles to becoming a landlord in HK, Mono?

[Grey Fox]

Absolutely horrific.

Yes, that is the purpose.  Our teachers showed us videos of these cubes when we were small.  The caption - what failure means. 

You have options tho, you can come back here if you fail, the Social network will take care of ya.

[Josquius]

I prefer my drones free range.

[Lettow77]

 This is just a conception I have of asia. It's no way for people to live, but seems to be acceptable to some classes of asians for reasons that elude me. I'd sooner be a drifter and wander the land.

[The Brain]

If you are 19 buddies who like to hang it seems OK.

[DisturbedPervert]

I think I'd rather live in an internet cafe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEFXCHru6kE

[Monoriu]

So, are there any obstacles to becoming a landlord in HK, Mono?

Money, mostly  A property that generates that much in rental income will cost millions. 

But that kind of property is kinda special.  It takes more than mere legal ownership to ensure that their kind of tenants pay rents promptly   

[Ed Anger]

I wish I could treat my renters like garbage too. 

[The Brain]

I wish I could treat my renters like garbage too. 

You can treat your garbage like renters.

[Monoriu]

Meanwhile...

A Hong Kong property developer has sold a duplex apartment for a world record price, less than three months after the territory technically emerged from recession.

Prices in Hong Kong's so-called luxury sector are up an estimated 30 percent this year.

Henderson Land, controlled by tycoon Lee Shau-kee, said it had sold the property on Hong Kong island for HK$71,280 (US$9,200) per square foot, or HK$439 million, to a buyer from mainland China.

News of Wednesday's sale came just hours after Donald Tsang, Hong Kong's chief executive, echoed concerns "about the supply of flats, difficulty in purchasing a home and the possibility of a property bubble" in his annual policy address to legislators.

"The government will closely monitor market changes in the coming months," Tsang said. "When necessary, we will fine-tune the land supply arrangements ... with a view to quickening the pace of bringing readily available residential sites to the market."

The government owns all the land in Hong Kong, the territory's most precious resource, and releases plots for auction from a pre-approved "application list" only after a developer's offer triggers a closely guarded reserve price.

"If you want to maximize the value of land you don't sell any -- or at least very little," says one local property executive.

The Hong Kong government, which strenuously denies it enforces a "high land-price policy", can also influence supply through its Urban Renewal Authority and MTR Corporation, the mass-transit rail operator that builds flats above its subway stations.

Hong Kong technically exited recession in the second quarter, during which gross domestic product grew 3.3 percent over the preceding three months. The property market has also rebounded strongly, with prices in the so-called luxury sector up an estimated 30 percent this year.

The market has been supported by the territory's unique currency peg. The peg is maintained at HK$7.8 to US$1 and forces the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to track currently low U.S. interest rates, encouraging speculative flows into the property and stock markets.

The benchmark Hang Seng index has risen 50 percent this year, and 95 percent from its low in March.

Henderson Land's record-setting property is on the 68th floor of a 40-storey building in the Mid-levels district -- a marketing trick made possible by the developer's decision to omit 47 floor numbers.

Traditionally, only floor numbers considered extremely unlucky in Cantonese culture, such as "4" and "14", are skipped.