This research note consists of two parts: an Housing Imaginations (HI)
study note and an HI exercise
Part 1: Study note - nano flats in
Hong Kong (housing imaginations[1])
Article 1: Sito, P. 2017.
"Nano flats sell for HK$3m as property prices predicted to soar 20 per
cent in 2018" South China Morning
Post December 12 (url address:
http://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2124028/tiny-flats-costing-us383000-and-prices-predicted-rise-another)
[visited at April 13, 2018]
1.1. "....... “As home prices have
risen at such a rapid pace, there aren’t too many flats being sold below HK$3
million,” said Louis Chan Wing-kit, Centaline’s managing director for
residential department";
1.2 ".... two property
consultants said the city’s housing market – already ranked as the world’s
least-affordable urban centre – can expect to be propelled even higher as the
booming stock market, record-low unemployment and high economic growth ensure
economic sentiment remains high";
Article 2: Zhen, S. 2017. "Parking
space-size flat to be the new norm as affordability eludes Hong Kong's
first-time buyers" South China
Morning Post October 26 (url address;
http://www.scmp.com/business/article/2116992/nano-flats-expected-flood-hong-kong-market-first-time-buyers-continue)
[visited at April 13, 2018].
2.1 "At least 2,100 nano flats are
expected to be completed between now and 2020 in Hong Kong, to lure more young
homebuyers into getting their first foot on the property ladder in the world’s
most expensive housing market";
2.2 "The majority will be located
in the New Territories, well away from the city’s core business
districts";
2.3
"“Most first-time buyers can afford
property costing under HK$6 million (US$769,000),” said Henry Mok, regional
director of capital markets at JLL. “However, that budget would only allow them
to buy a sizeable flat in an old housing estate (over 30-years-old) in urban
areas, given prices have reached record highs.” They would much rather buy a
new nano flats of their own, he added";
2.4 "Some
of the smallest projects in the city are set to provide nano flats ranging in
size from 128 sq ft upwards, which is smaller than a standard 134 sq ft Hong
Kong car parking space";
Article 3: Ye, J. 2017. "8 Hong
Kong nano flats that prove small can still be beautiful" South China
Morning Post August 12 (url address:
http://www.scmp.com/property/hong-kong-china/article/2106471/here-are-8-hong-kong-nano-flats-prove-small-can-still-be)
[visited at Apriil 13, 2018].
3.1 "Small flats are here to stay
in Hong Kong. Over a quarter of the completed units last year were Class A
flats, which measure less than 400 square feet (37 square metres) in
size";
3.2 "...just because the stage is
small, it doesn’t lack the ability to razzle or dazzle. These tiny flats bring
out the best in architects, who use their skills to optimise the use of
space";
3.4 "The flat can morph into a
bathroom with a Duravit bathtub, a living room with a hammock, a fully equipped
kitchen, a walk-in closet, a dining area for five people, a laundry room and
more";
3.5 "The 194 sq ft show flat in
Tsim Sha Tsui’s Miramall also contains a plethora of transformable elements,
with a wine fridge, washing machine and a shoe cabinet that can hold up to 12
pairs of footwear";
3.6 "The 150 sq ft studio flat has
a 3.7-metre ceiling and an open-plan living design featuring a loft bedroom, a
pantry, a private bathroom and plenty of hidden storage space. The flat also
features a bookcase that doubles as a door";
3.7 "Otto Ng Chun-lun, co-founder
of LAAB, transformed a tiny flat into a smart home that accommodates a cosy
home theatre, a generous kitchen and a dining room";
3.8 "The flat appears to be more
spacious than it actually is, thanks to its monochrome colour and an abundance
of windows";
3.9 "Sometimes less is more. Glory
Tam Chi-kiu, founder of Mister Glory, optimised the sense of space in a 369 sq
ft flat in Wan Chai by using materials with only a limited selection of colours
- pale-wood laminate floor, pale-wood veneer furniture, smooth white walls and
white marble details for a touch of luxury";
Article 4: Cheng, R. 2017. "'Nano'
flats on the rise as Hong Kong homes shrink amid high property prices"
South China Morning Post April 17 (url address:
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/2088171/nano-flats-rise-hong-kong-homes-shrink-amid-high-property)
[visited at April 13, 2018].
4.1 "Hongkongers are feeling the
squeeze as new “nano” flats measuring less than 200 sq ft are mushrooming
around urban districts such as Wan Chai, Central and Western and Sham Shui Po,
according to official figures";
4.2 "The tiny flats are more
popular in some districts than others – 10.8 per cent of all homes completed in
Wan Chai last year were nano flats, the highest proportion in any
district";
4.3 "Ryan Shum, Centaline’s
marketing manager for Wan Chai, said nano flats were not a new phenomenon in
the district. Some flats completed in the 1980s were also less than 200 sq ft
in size, he said";
4.4 "“Wan Chai attracts a lot of
young and single executives working in Central and Admiralty who want to live
close to their offices,” Shum said";
4.5
"Buggle Lau Kar-fai, chief analyst of
Midland Realty, said: “With property prices staying high, buying a small flat
with a smaller lump sum is the only way some people can afford to buy property.
4.6 “Another issue
is the mortgage. Nano flats often cost less, so buyers without strong financial
resources may be able to finance their purchase.”...";
4.7 "Lau warned of risks for buyers of nano flats. “People
won’t stay in nano homes forever. Even owner-occupiers will want to move to a
bigger flat one day. If the market goes downward, then bigger flats will become
more affordable. Owners of nano flats may find the demand for such flats can
decline.”..";
Article
5: Liu, Y. 2017. "Small doesn't come cheap - Hong Kong's nano flat cost 9
per cent more in square footage" South China Morning Post August 29 (url
address:
http://www.scmp.com/business/article/2108665/hong-kongs-tiny-flats-9pc-pricier-larger-homes-sq-ft}
[visited at April 13, 2018].
5.1
"Hong Kong’s second-hand tiny flats are 9 per cent more expensive than
larger ones on a per square foot basis, as record-high home prices and
government cooling measures have created a mismatch between supply and
demand";
5.2
"The per square foot price of tiny flats is 9.8 per cent higher than that
of flats of 400 to 800 sq ft, and 4.1 per cent higher than that of flats larger
than 800 sq ft.... This reflects an
unintended effect of the government’s cooling measures to rein in the world’s
least affordable housing market, which is the distorted demand and supply
relation in the secondary market, analysts said";
5.3
"The government raised the stamp duty to
15 per cent for all residential purchases except for first-time buyers in
November 2016. In a policy-related tightening, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority
has rolled out eight rounds of mortgage restrictions since 2014.
5.4 "The
ability and motivation of middle-class families to sell their existing homes to
buy larger ones declined because of these measures, said Wong Leung-sing,
associate director of research at Centaline Property Agency. “The government
policies only leave a way out for first-time buyers and buyers of smaller
flats.”...";
5.5 "The low interest rate environment also made homeowners
less likely to sell their properties due to the lack of profitable investment
alternatives, said Lau...";
Part 2: Housing Imaginations
- class exercise: try to formulate housing imaginations based on the following
themes (and associated points from the articles studied above)
Task 1: Formulate statements of housing imaginations as
related to the following themes
(i)
Nano flats provide an affordable housing solution to young home-buyers;
(ii)
Tiny apartments can be attractive and meet most home function needs reasonably
well;
(iii)
The demand for nano flats is a consequence of poor government policy and
macro-environmental condition;
(iv)
Nano flats are not novel phenomenon in Hong Kong and they will become the new
normal in the Housing Market in Hong Kong;
(v)
Nano flats are expensive and are risky investments for families in Hong Kong;
(vi) Residents of
nano flats are expected to experience squeezed spatially, thus the quality of
residential life is not satisfactory;
(vi) Nano flats is
a compromised flat-purchase decision to enable flat location closer to major
workplaces at the expense of home living space.
Task 2: Examine your housing imagination statements in terms of
the notions of space, place and home in the Housing Imaginations literature; which
stakeholder groups will likely endorse which housing imaginations statements,
and why?; be critical and imaginative in your analysis. Use the following
housing imaginations statements analysis worksheet for your review:
Housing imaginations statements analysis
worksheet
|
Housing
imagination statements with illustrative artefacts
|
Supporting
information and analysis elements
|
|
Housing imagination statement 1:
Illustrative artefacts:
Artefact 1:
Artefact 2:
Artefact 3:
|
A. Supporting viewpoints and sources
(e.g., newspaper articles)
Point 1: (source: reference xxx)
Point 2 (source: reference xxx)
B. Likely supported by which
stakeholder groups:
Stakeholder group 1:
Reasons
Stakeholder group 2:
Reasons
C. Space, place and home analysis
Space-based analysis ideas (SAI):
SAI 1:
SAI 2:
Place-based analysis ideas (PAI)
PAI 1:
PAI 2:
PAI 3:
Home-based analysis ideas (HAI)
HA 1:
HA 2:
HA 3:
D: Your own critical and imaginative ideas
(OCII)
OCII 1:
OCII 2:
OCII 3:
|
|
Housing imagination statement 2:
Illustrative artefacts:
Artefact 1:
Artefact 2:
Artefact 3:
|
A. Supporting viewpoints and sources
Point 1: (source: reference xxx)
Point 2 (source: reference xxx)
B. Likely supported by which
stakeholder groups:
Stakeholder group 1:
Reasons
Stakeholder group 2:
Reasons
C. Space, place and home analysis
Space-based analysis ideas (SAI):
SAI 1:
SAI 2:
Place-based analysis ideas (PAI)
PAI 1:
PAI 2:
PAI 3:
Home-based analysis ideas (HAI)
HA 1:
HA 2:
HA 3:
D: Your own critical and imaginative ideas
(OCII)
OCII 1:
OCII 2:
OCII 3:
|
|
Housing imagination statement 3:
Illustrative artefacts:
Artefact 1:
Artefact 2:
Artefact 3:
|
A. Supporting viewpoints and sources
Point 1: (source: reference xxx)
Point 2 (source: reference xxx)
B. Likely supported by which
stakeholder groups:
Stakeholder group 1:
Reasons
Stakeholder group 2:
Reasons
C. Space, place and home analysis
Space-based analysis ideas (SAI):
SAI 1:
SAI 2:
Place-based analysis ideas (PAI)
PAI 1:
PAI 2:
PAI 3:
Home-based analysis ideas (HAI)
HA 1:
HA 2:
HA 3:
D: Your own critical and imaginative ideas
(OCII)
OCII 1:
OCII 2:
OCII 3:
|
|
Housing imagination statement 4:
Illustrative artefacts:
Artefact 1:
Artefact 2:
Artefact 3:
|
A. Supporting viewpoints and sources
Point 1: (source: reference xxx)
Point 2 (source: reference xxx)
B. Likely supported by which
stakeholder groups:
Stakeholder group 1:
Reasons
Stakeholder group 2:
Reasons
C. Space, place and home analysis
Space-based analysis ideas (SAI):
SAI 1:
SAI 2:
Place-based analysis ideas (PAI)
PAI 1:
PAI 2:
PAI 3:
Home-based analysis ideas (HAI)
HAI 1:
HAI 2:
HAI 3:
D: Your own critical and imaginative ideas
(OCII)
OCII 1:
OCII 2:
OCII 3:
|
|
Overall comments and recommendations on the
array of housing imaginations examined by the HI analyst:
Comment 1:
Comment 2:
Comment 3:
Recommendation 1:
Recommendation 2:
Recommendation 3:
|
|
[1]
Housing imaginations (hi's) are housing-related viewpoints, mainly shared by a group of
people with certain personal profiles and interests, that respond to housing
issues/ concerns as well as dynamic situations, solutions, policies and
practices. Inevitably, such viewpoints have cultural contents, e.g. perceptions
on (i) human nature, (ii) human relation between people, with the society, the
external environment, and government, and (iii) problem-solving and planning
attitudes.
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