Bedspace apartment

A bedspace apartment (Chinese: 籠屋) or cage home is a type of residence that is only large enough for one bunk bed surrounded by a metal cage. In 2007, there were approximately 53,200 people living in cage homes. This type of residence originated in Hong Kong, and primarily exists in older urban districts such as Sham Shui Po, Mong Kok, To Kwa Wan, and Tai Kok Tsui.

Generally, the residents are low-income people, including the elderly, drug addicts, and some low-skilled or unskilled laborers. Reports from the Legislative Council of Hong Kong found that the people who lived in cage homes were those who did not qualify for social welfare or subsidized rent or electricity. Most of the residents are male. Safety and living conditions in cage homes are poor.

While often called cage homes, they are categorized as "bedspace apartments" by the Hong Kong Government. According to the Bedspace Apartment Ordinance, the term "bedspace apartment" refers to a house that contains 12 or more people who rent bedspaces individually. It is legal to run these bedspace apartments, but landlords must first apply for a special license.

Bedspace apartments started to appear more commonly during the 1950s and 60s. During the Chinese Civil War, a large number of Chinese mainlanders migrated to Hong Kong, and this, along with a surge in birth rates due to the prospering economy, caused the population to dramatically increase from 2,015,300 in 1951 to 3,129,648 in 1961. In an attempt to cope with the housing demand, the Hong Kong Government started to build several public housing estates. However, the government could not handle the extra burden brought by the Chinese migrant workers, and there were no housing or labor protection policies in place at that time. Cage homes thus became popular among migrant workers, as the rental fee was low.

...
Wikipedia