Hong Kong’s lawmakers approved a bill on Friday making it mandatory for owners of subdivided units (SDUs) in residential buildings to register their properties and meet relevant standards, in a bid to improve living conditions in the city.

Under the “Basic Housing Units Ordinance”, such SDUs must comply with a set of minimum standards of living conditions, including minimum area, minimum height, fire safety, structural safety, separate toilet, water supply requirements, lighting and ventilation and separate water and electricity meters.

The SDUs must obtain Basic Housing Unit (BHU) recognition before they are allowed to be let out for habitation, the special administrative region government said, welcoming the passage of the bill by the Legislative Council.

There will be criminal liability on the person who lets out unrecognized SDUs, while the tenants concerned will not be held liable, according to the Housing Bureau.

The ordinance will be gazetted on Oct 3 and come into effect on March 1 next year. Upon commencement of the ordinance, the bureau will start accepting applications for BHU recognition.

The bill seeks to introduce a regulatory regime for the letting of SDUs in residential buildings to ensure the provision of safe and reasonable living conditions, thereby tackling the issue of substandard SDUs in an orderly and comprehensive manner, the HKSAR government said in a statement.

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“For a long time, Hong Kong has suffered from a shortage of land and public housing due to various factors, resulting in some less well-off citizens resorting to residing in SDUs with extremely poor conditions,” said Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho Wing-yin.

To address the issue, the current-term SAR government introduced a number of housing policies which include continuously enhancing speed, quantity, efficiency, and quality of public housing, significantly increasing the public housing supply, launching the unprecedented Light Public Housing, and continuously promoting the development of transitional housing, she said.

“All these have successfully increased the housing supply significantly in a short period of time and allowed SDU households waiting for public housing to be housed in public housing more quickly, thereby enabling us to tackle the issue of substandard SDUs.”

As a transitional arrangement to implement the BHU regulatory regime progressively, the Housing Bureau will concurrently launch a 12-month registration system for existing SDUs to apply for registration to enjoy a 36-month grace period from March 1, 2027.

This will enable necessary alteration works to be carried out gradually and applications for BHU recognition to be made, said the government.

To encourage SDU owners and operators to submit registration and recognition applications as early as possible, starting from March 1 next year, the government has announced an "early-bird" reduction/waiver on recognition fees.

Upon completion of the registration period, the HKSAR government will begin to take orderly enforcement actions against the illegal letting of unregistered and unrecognized SDUs from March 1, 2027.

The government said it will also provide appropriate temporary rehousing assistance to the affected households in need.

“The government will implement the BHU regulatory regime in an orderly manner, with a view to gradually resolving the deep-rooted social issue of substandard SDUs in Hong Kong and ensuring that everyone, including the most vulnerable, can enjoy safe, hygienic and reasonable living conditions and live with dignity in this city,” said Secretary Ho.