30% of Hongkongers would ‘lie flat’, decline pay rise to meet public housing rules, survey finds

About 30 per cent of Hongkongers would decline a pay rise to meet eligibility rules for public housing, a poll has found, while many of those who want to own a flat called for government subsidies as they can only afford a home that costs HK$3 million or less.

The Federation of Public Housing Estates and youth groups conducted the online poll last month with 367 people, aged 18 to 40.

Revealing the survey findings, the federation said on Sunday that 30.5 per cent of respondents would “lie flat”, a mainland Chinese term that means to do the bare minimum to get by.

The respondents said they would lie flat – decline promotions and salary increases – to meet the eligibility criteria for public housing. Nearly 60 per cent would not, the federation said.

The group said around 85 per cent of respondents believed the phenomenon of “lying flat” was a result of private flats being unaffordable.

Respondents were also asked to rate the importance of owning property. It was extremely important for 63 per cent of respondents.