A Hong Kong public housing estate known as an Instagram hotspot and home to more than 7,000 families is set to be redeveloped in stages, the SCMP has learned.
Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho Wing-yin on Monday declined to confirm whether the rainbow-coloured Choi Hung Estate in Wong Tai Sin was next in line for redevelopment but said the government would announce the site at an appropriate time after considering different factors.
“We have got hold of the ageing situation of different estates, but there are different variables, including whether there is a chance of relocation,” Ho said, responding to questions from lawmakers at a meeting of the legislature’s housing panel.
Ho said the situation varied in different districts and it was not an easy task for authorities to outline which public housing estate would be the next in the queue to be redeveloped.
She added that old public housing required more money for maintenance and standards would not be as good as the new ones.
Referencing the Chinese term “choi hung”, which means rainbow, the colourful exterior walls and basketball court of the 11-block estate have attracted thousands of locals and tourists to the site to take pictures.
Built between 1962 and 1964, the 11 seven- to 20-storey buildings are home to around 7,400 households.
An insider told the SCMP that the estate was picked for redevelopment because of its massive scale and an announcement on the work, to be completed in stages, would be made by the end of the year.
The Housing Authority, the city’s major public housing provider, is working on 10 redevelopment projects. The work covers six housing and four factory estates, with 21,800 flats to be demolished and 32,000 homes to be built in the future.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu announced in his maiden policy address last year that the government would rebuild one more estate under its current plan, but did not give the location.
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The government told the SCMP that the authority’s principles for choosing projects were the structural condition of blocks, the cost-effectiveness of renovation, nearby suitable relocation resources, and the potential of in-situ redevelopment.
Anthony Chiu Kwok-wai, an authority member and executive director of the Federation of Public Housing Estates, said redeveloping the Choi Hung site was in line with the principles.
“The estate doesn’t have tall blocks so its redevelopment will yield more flats than it currently has. There are also nearby relocation resources,” Chiu said.
He was referring to the 4,100 homes to be completed in 2025-26 at Wang Chiu Road, opposite the estate, and 2,900 flats to be provided by two redeveloped blocks at Mei Tung Estate by 2027-28. Mei Tung is a 30-minute walk from Choi Hung Estate.
Chiu estimated that the redevelopment would take a decade to complete in stages and could double the current flat supply.
He added that redevelopment projects must impact the public rental housing waiting time, which stood at 5.3 years as of June.
“We cannot ignore the condition of ageing estates. If we have the resources now, we have to redevelop the estates. Or else, it will get harder in the future,” Chiu said, referring to the difficulty in finding nearby relocation resources.
The CEO of local tour agency Walk in Hong Kong Paul Chan Chi-yuen said the estate was one of the first to provide communal areas, such as shops and sports facilities, unlike previous ones built solely for accommodating residents.
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Chan, who organised virtual tours at the estate, said it would be difficult to preserve buildings under redevelopment but hoped the government could consider keeping some features including painting exterior walls in rainbow colours and keeping old stores, such as a Shanghai-style barber shop and historic restaurants.
“The estate has also built a communal setting apart from providing living space. The government can explore keeping it or even doing a better job in showcasing the feature,” Chan said.
Separately, several lawmakers at Monday’s meeting urged the government to focus on increasing the supply of subsidised flats rather than rental ones to help younger homebuyers and reduce the public housing queue.
The housing minister said more than 133,000 households were waiting for a public rental flat and the government had to plan carefully.
