6.3 Life in the Resettlement Estates

Living conditions in the early resettlement estates, built after the Shek Kip Mei fire, were quite primitive.

Families of seven or eight were jammed into a tiny cubicle of 11 square metres. Meals had to be cooked on a narrow balcony, and residents of each floor had to use communal washing and toilet facilities. Schools were hurriedly thrown up on the rooftops of seven-storey blocks almost as an afterthought, and nurseries, clinics and libraries were non-existent.

However, the low rent, a mere HK$14 per month, was the real blessing, and the former squatters could at least have a permanent roof over their heads.

Credit : History Museum of HK.