In January, netizens went crazy for this little 40-square-foot shoebox room in a sub-divided flat in Yau Ma Tei when it went on the market for HK$2,900 a month (US$370).
It would be hard to find anything as outrageous as that offering. But because this is Hong Kong — a city where the housing crisis is out of control — there is no end to creative landlords flogging tiny flats for extortionate rents.
Case in point, this 130-square-foot flat — which was listed as a “brand new large suite” — in Yau San Street in Yuen Long, which went on the market this week for HK$5,800 (US$741) a month.
Granted, it’s in many ways better than the aforementioned Yau Ma Tei shoebox — it’s bigger, has windows, you don’t have to sleep directly next to the toilet, and it comes with a bed (of sorts) and wardrobe. Nevertheless, it’s raised a predictable flurry of questions from some netizens. Namely, who wants to sleep in a mattress above the sink?
In what looks like an attempt to turn this humble flat a loft studio apartment, the mattress has been secured to the wall and two metal poles that drop down from the ceiling. The cupboard mentioned in the listing also doubles up as a ladder leading up to the mattress.
Judging by the metal bar just underneath the mattress, the room looks like it may have been a bathroom in a previous life.
Two of the most common questions posed by netizens were: “How do you have sex on that bed?” and “how do you make sure you don’t fall off that mattress?”
But the majority were more concerned with the mechanics of cooking food in the tiny flat. Although there is no gas stove visible in any of the photos, a gas cylinder can be seen in the corner of the room near the sink.
“Cooking noodles might be difficult unless you don’t mind the mattress smelling like gas,” remarked one.
Despite the litany of negative comments you’d expect, including “you can get a village house for that much rent” and “the landlord is crazy,” there is at least one person who seems interested.
The reason? “This flat has two floors.”
