Youth hostels create space for living and planning for the future
3 June 2018
 |
| Youth hostel of the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groupsin Tai Po (photomontage) |
 |
| Po Leung Kuk’s youth hostel in Ma Tin Pok, Yuen Long (photomontage) |
Young people generally want to have a place of their own as soon as they leave school and join the workforce. However, in Hong Kong, a small city with a large population and facing soaring property prices, finding an affordable place to live has become a problem for many people.
Against this background, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government launched the Youth Hostel Scheme (YHS) to offer hostel places at lower than market rents to youngsters who have just left school and are finding their feet in the job market. The YHS enables young working people who wish to have a place of their own to seize the opportunities to pursue their aspirations while accumulating savings for future development.
Under the YHS, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) will be fully funded by the Government to construct youth hostels on the sites owned by them. Upon completion, these youth hostels, targeting young working people aged 18 to 30, will be run by NGOs on a self-financing basis.
The first tenancy, which covers a period of at least two years, can be renewed upon expiry. But the aggregate tenancy period should not exceed five years. NGOs should set the rent at a level which does not exceed 60% of the market rent of a flat of similar size in the nearby areas.
The YHS has made steady progress. The youth hostel project in Tai Po undertaken by the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups is the first of its kind. The project has commenced construction and is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2019 at the earliest, providing 80 hostel places.
As for Po Leung Kuk’s youth hostel project in Ma Tin Pok, Yuen Long, funding approval was secured from the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council just last month for carrying out the construction works. Upon scheduled completion in the third quarter of 2021, the project will offer 1 680 hostel places, making it the largest one among the existing YHS projects in terms of number of places.
Another youth hostel, providing 306 hostel places, will be constructed by the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals in Sheung Wan on a site conveniently located at the commercial zone between Central and Sheung Wan. The project is now going through town planning procedures before the commencement of advance construction works in the next stage.
In addition to those mentioned above, the Government is now actively taking forward another three projects. The one in Mong Kok is undertaken by the Hong Kong Association of Youth Development whereas the one in Jordan by the Hong Kong Girl Guides Association. These two projects, expected to provide about 90 and 500-600 hostel places respectively, are entering the final stage of pre-construction consultancy study. Support has been obtained from the relevant District Council for the two projects.
The Hong Kong Sheng Kung Wui Welfare Council plans to build an integrated service centre in Yuen Long, providing social welfare facilities and a youth hostel with about 160 hostel places. Pre-construction consultancy study is now underway to ascertain the technical feasibility and the estimated construction cost of the project. The six youth hostel projects mentioned above will provide a total of 2 800 hostel places.
We will keep in view the needs of the community for youth hostels and continue to liaise with interested NGOs in order to offer the necessary assistance for the provision of more youth hostel units. These projects can help promote youth development through providing our younger generation with more choices.
The YHS provides the youth with transitional support in terms of time and space so that they can better prepare themselves for personal development in the future. The time-limited tenancy ensures the turnover of hostel places, thus allowing more youngsters to benefit from the scheme.
It is understandable that young people might encounter various difficulties at the start of their career. But I firmly believe that hard work will pay off. Just like a baby bird, challenges and setbacks are inevitable when it learns to fly. Once fully-fledged, it will spread its wings and soar high.
