Housing aspiration of the youth : a study of the youth hostel scheme

Abstract

The housing issue has been a wide concern among the public and stakeholders in Hong Kong. Due to the long waiting list of public housing applications, private housing is becoming more and more unaffordable to Hong Kong people, it has increased the need for living accommodation by the public, urging the government to comprehensively review the current housing policy in order to help the youth to fulfil their housing aspiration. Housing is a necessity but also a source of a sense of self-identity and status of social cohesion. Unsurprisingly, the unmet housing aspiration may lead to discontent with the government and impact upon social cohesion. Considering the youth, the accessibility of affordable housing is even more limited, and it is hoped that government can adopt effective measures to meet their housing aspiration. Through this study, it has been found that the youth aspire to a living accommodation that enables them to have more private areas and decent living environments. However, in light of the high housing price and rent, such aspiration may seem hard to attain. This results in a phenomenon that the youth continue to stay with their parents for a long period and are unwilling to move out, notwithstanding they are at the thirty years of age. Given the growing demand for living accommodation, in 2011, the Government introduced the Youth Hostel Scheme (YHS) by subsidizing NGOs to build more private hostel housing for the youth and offer them below-market rents to meet their housing aspiration. This paper attempts to identify the main factors that influence the housing aspiration of the youth and explore the attributes of the Youth Hostel in Hong Kong. Some measures adopted from other countries/cities in helping the youth to accomplish their housing aspiration would be identified, such as the rent-to-buy scheme from the UK, social housing for youth in Taipei, and 2030 housing project launched in South Korea. Through this study, the measures mentioned above will be analysed whether they can be applied in Hong Kong, thereby enriching the YHS of Hong Kong. Apart from that, this study aims to investigate how the YHS fulfils the housing aspiration of two groups of youth, including tenants living in youth hostels and other youth. Last, related findings and suggestions will be elaborated. The case study research method is adopted in this study to generate an in-depth, multi-faceted understanding of a complex issue in its real-life context. The target respondents are youth aged from 18 to 31. By using a random sampling method, 100 respondents would be selected to complete a questionnaire survey. Also, four in-depth interviews will be conducted to understand better the views and perspectives of the youth living in the only youth hostel in Hong Kong (Youth Hostel PH2) and how the measures adopted from other countries/cities can be applied to enrich the YHS in Hong Kong. To overview, the result of data collection shows that the living size is regarded as the most crucial factor influencing their housing aspiration. Most respondents reflect that they live in a limited and crowded place, and 46% of respondents live in a unit less than 100 sq. ft unit per person. Thus, they aspire to live in accommodation with proper living size. Besides, living accommodation in good condition and sound community facilities nearby is also significant to most of the respondents because it can enhance the image of youths and positively impact their physical and mental development. Furthermore, youths decide to move out of their family home because they pursue independent lives and seek more privacy in their living accommodation. Therefore, the degree of privacy also becomes an essential factor that influences youth’s housing aspiration. In terms of the attributes of the youth hostel in Hong Kong, according to the outcome of the interview surveys, it determines that there are four major attributes of the Youth Hostel, including affordable rent with a friendly living environment, provision of independent living place, a good location and superior community facilities nearby, and experiment of living in groups of youth. In addition, by analyzing different merits of those measures from other countries/cities in enhancing the homeownership of youths, it reveals that it is hard to be applied in Hong Kong due to several reasons, for example, the shortage of land supply in Hong Kong, the vast operating cost of youth hostels by youth hostel operators and the limitation on the construction of youth hostel near the subway station. Moreover, this study also reveals that two groups of youths, including tenants living in Youth Hostel and other youths, have similar housing aspirations. They seek a living place that provides more private areas and a decent living environment to achieve “Living Independently.” By providing a proper independent living place with affordable rentals and a decent living environment for youths, youth hostel under the youth hostel scheme can fulfill their housing aspiration. Yet, it is doubted that such a scheme can lead youths to become homeowners or improve the homeownership rate in Hong Kong due to the limited housing affordability of youths and the exorbitant housing price.