Featured Image Credit: Sky News/YouTube
Topics: World News
Claire Reid
Thousands of people live inside tiny properties dubbed ‘coffin homes’ in Hong Kong, with severely limited floor space and shared bathroom facilities.
The tiny cubicles offer just a few feet of space - one such building has rooms that are just 60cm (2ft) wide and 170cm (5’7ft) long - and are mainly inhabited by those trapped in poverty.
In one building, a man pays around US$300 a month for an 18 sq ft cubicle - you can see a video about the apartments here:
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The plywood cubicles usually hold a couple of shelves where inhabitants can balance a TV, books or other belongings, while washing and toilet facilities are shared with other residents.
In 2017, Guardian journalist Benjamin Haas spent a week inside one of the coffin homes in a building known as Lucky House - the cubicle he stayed in was just 12 sq feet (1.1 sq metres) and had no window, which meant it was impossible to tell what time of day it was.
Many people move to the coffin homes as they have no other options, with one neighbour telling Haas: “This isn’t my real home, my home is the apartment I shared with my wife and daughter. “But this place is cleaner than most coffin homes, and everyone is very friendly.”
As the journalist explains, Hong Kong has one of the most expensive housing markets in the world, which prices many people out of buying a home or even getting into a decent rental.
According to government data, in 2020, more than 200,000 people were living inside these ‘coffin homes’, with some being stuck there for years.
One resident who had lived in a coffin home for three years told Sky News in 2019: "No-one cares about us. We are just forgotten."
A clip of the unusual living arrangements was shared on TikTok where people have been left shocked and grateful for their own living situation.
One person said: "I've never been more grateful for my home than after seeing this. This is so sad.”
Another wrote: “When I see things like this it makes me wish I had superpowers and I could help everyone around the world.”
While a third posted: We're so blessed, and most of us take it for granted..”
Someone else said: “Imagine, these people were just born into these lives/locations. I often think how LUCKY I am to be born where I was and still live.”