News · 9 November 2016
Should London Follow Hong Kong's Lead With Tiny Studio Flats?
Hong Kong developer Swire Properties is marketing 142 sq ft studio flats: barely larger than a parking space, and less than half the UK minimum standard.
Like London, Hong Kong is in the grip of a housing crisis. But unlike London, Hong Kong does not have strict minimum space standards. That is why Swire Properties can develop a residential tower which offers studio flats that are just 142 square feet in size, or "saleable area" as it is called.
To put that in context, planning regulations in England demand that the minimum size for new properties intended for the occupancy of a single person is 398 sq ft, more than twice the size of Swire's studios.
As the South China Morning Post notes, these studios are just 10 sq ft bigger than a standard private car parking space.