Living Small in Hong Kong

Living Small in Hong Kong

====


Not a new trend, but it seems to be spreading rapidly into the Expat community. Housing allowances are under downwards pressure, and more Expats are living in HK "on their own dime(s)", rather than being supported by lavish corporate housing programs. With Rents rising, it makes sense to find ways to economize.


I have been living on my own money for years, and even switched from a large 3BR flat in Tung Chung, to a much smaller 2BR flat in the Olympic area, in order to be "closer to the action." It took a while to get accustomed to the smaller flat, but we have never regretted the move.


I am seeing many people downsizing into smaller flats, and I think it was time we had a thread on AX discussing how you can live in style in a smaller flat.


There are many design solutions. And I have to say it surprises me that Hong Kong people are not better at designing small flats. Many of the small flats I see in HK seem to have obvious flaws. Japan seems to do this better, so there is much room for improvement in HK. We can discuss that here.

While we have no intention of downsizing, I can understand why people choose to do so.


Storage is an issue in many smaller flats. As I am not a fan of self storage facilities and we will need to refurbish/redecorate our current flat in the near future, ideas for a better/more efficient use of the space we have would be very welcome.

storage space in hk revolves around wisely placed built in cabinets. You cannot maximize your storage with free standing storage. any nook or odd shaped space can be used for a built in cabinet. utilize floor to ceiling cabinets as well. In the kitchen, make good use of built in cabinets along the entire side, a lot of kitchens only offer partial cabinets and leave the rangehood without any cabinet above. this is a waste of space.


If there is a non load bearing wall between rooms, knock down the wall and put a built in cabinet for the master bedroom with a plastered and painted backing. You can get a lot of storage space doing this, and when the cabinet is full it is just as sound proofed.


If desperate, built in cabinets on top walls of bedrooms are an option, but i normally don't suggest this as it is not wise to sleep under them.

Good suggestions here.


As for storage, it may makes sense to rent some "off-site" storage away from your residential property. Perhaps in someplace like Kwai Hing.


If you look up Apple Storage, you will see that this is a thriving business.


Another way to make better use of space in a small apartment is to have a built-in floor to ceiling storage cabinet along one wall (as was suggested above, and as we have done in our flat.) Another way is to make double use of space. We have done this by having a roll-out bed under the wardrobe in our second bedroom. Normally, the room functions as a dressing room, and an office. But when we have visitors, we roll the bed out, and it functions as a second bedroom.


I also like these pull-down bed ideas...


- Clei swing bed, From Italy:

http://blogs.artinfo.com/objectlessons/files/2013/01/making_room_04.jpeg


- Griffon bed, From France:

http://media.treehugger.com/assets/images/2011/10/griffon-bed-3.jpg


I think HK could be far more creative with ideas like this. Concepts designed here, can be easily built in Shenzhen, or elsewhere in China.

http://www.thestorehouse.com.hk/

What I am pondering now is this?


Can a well-designed Smaller Flat achieve better rents, and better Resale value?


No doubt, it will make the flat easier to live in, but will "the next guy" to rent or own the flat also value the space saving innovations that I value? Or will they just want to have them removed, so they can make their own design?

Saw this a few years ago and posted it up.. reposting it for you guys:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcecHn7tg_U


Yes. I think you could definitely fetch a higher price for a unit like this.. but the amount of money you put into renovations would be astronomical..

Having had the experience of renting out units with both basic fitout and higher quality fit out, given the very real depreciation of the latter, the higher rents will not necessarily be enough to compensate for the additional investment. You need to do your numbers carefully to figure out if it is worth it.


Separately, for a rental unit partial built in or some loose furniture is usually a very bad idea. You reduce the pool of tenants and inevitably end up trying to sell off whatever loose items the next tanant decides they don't want at a substantial loss in a week or two (if you can sell it at all). The only exceptions are whiteare and curtains/blinds. Otherwise either go fully furnished or no furniture at all.

Thanks, Elsdon


I have seen that before, but it is good to watch it again.

When they get "creative" in Hong Kong, there are no half-measures


These Winning Designs are also worth a look:


Big Problem, Small Solution


Will the Middle Class Want Micro-Apartments?


My Micro NY: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/01/23/new-york-is-pushing-under-400-sqft-micro-apartments-see-the-winning-design/


Soon, Manhattan will not have enough housing to accommodate the growing number of one- and two-person households. Developers have been building up, adding high-rises, to make more living space on the island, but the city has another proposal: allow developers to build smaller. On Jan. 22, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg Businessweek’s parent company, announced the winning design for the adAPT NYC competition seeking proposals for a new micro-apartment development.


As part of the pilot program, the winning team comprised of Monadnock Development, Actors Fund Housing Development Corp., and nArchitects will build 55 micro-units between 250 and 370 square feet (including a kitchen and bathroom) at 335 E. 27th St. in Manhattan. The city waived zoning regulations at the site, allowing the new apartments to be smaller than 400 square feet, the minimum size since 1987.

. . .

While the compact size might suggest that the units are designed for low-income tenants (like an updated version of the city’s old single room occupancy units), this is not entirely the case.

Twenty-two of the 55 units will be “affordable” for low- and middle-income households...

===

/more: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-01-23/will-the-middle-class-want-micro-apartments


400sf (net) is small in Manhattan.

In HK, that may not seem so small for locals.

So HK should be getting more creative at using small, I reckon. But that skill has been slow to develop for some reason (?)

Here's another sliding wall apartment. This from the founder of Tree Hugger:


6 rooms into 1: morphing apartment packs 1100 sq ft into 420


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYV0qATsyts


It cost him plenty to build it, but he made it as a proto-type, and plans to use the design for other flats.

Rather cool, and comes from a guy who clearly cares about design


In the second half, he has a dinner party for 10 in the flat.

(A well-designed smaller flat may reduce "Misery"):


MISERY OF THE WEALTH GAP (in Hong Kong)


(that's what the SCMP has entitle a brief editorial in today's SCMP)


"The poorer you are, the unhappier you become...

Households with a monthly income of HK$10-20,000 have the highest misery index (2.93.)"


"The happiest (at 2.79), have a monthly income of HK$50,000 or more."


"A widely reported global study in November... found the average HK-er thinks he/she needs to earn HK$1.5 Million, or HK$125,000 a month to be happy."

== ==


Another way to look at it is, what sort of property (and where) do they need to live to feel happy.


If you assume that half $50K income pays for housing (with some of partner's income supporting living expenses), and 1/3 of the HK$125K goes to housing, then maybe most people think they need to be able to pay a rent $25,000 - 40,000 per month, to have satisfactory housing.


Obviously, as rents rise, the requisite income would go up too... unless people own their own properties - but that may take a higher income to cover the mortgage payments, on the rising property prices.


Here's a Historical chart of Rents in HK

http://www.globalpropertyguide.com/template/assets/img/Hong%20Kong-residential-prices-vs-rent-graph-1.gif


===

/source: http://www.globalpropertyguide.com/Asia/hong-kong/Price-History


A recent price point for 70-100 sm flats:


(Nov.'12) : 85 sm x $HK371 = 915 sf x HK$34.5 = HK$31,566


... and that's towards the middle of the range, I calculated above.


Designing a Small and Cheaper property to provide a decent home, may therefore be one great way to cope with Rising Rents, while preserving Happiness - especially when someone is reluctant to spend money to buy a high-priced flat.