Rush to create 2,600 student hostel spaces to meet surging demand in Hong Kong

Education authorities have received more than 10 applications to convert commercial buildings and hotels into 2,600 dormitory spaces in Hong Kong, a move to address the increased demand after raising the cap on non-local students at tertiary institutions to 50 per cent.

Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin said on Saturday she was encouraged by the response to the “Hostel in the City” scheme, launched in July with the Development Bureau.

“We have approved a few applications now,” Choi said. “There has been a lot of interest, especially from private enterprises. It’s much faster than before, when accommodation was funded by the government and built by universities from scratch.”

Some of the sites are located in Hung Hom, Kwun Tong, Sham Shui Po, Mong Kok, Wan Chai and Sheung Wan.

Choi explained that increasing the non-local student cap to 50 per cent, which city leader John Lee Ka-chiu announced in his policy address last month, was a response to the eight public universities reaching an average level of about 23 per cent, with some in the thirties and quickly approaching the previous 40 per cent threshold.

The students must be self-financed, and the minister stressed the institutions must implement the increase gradually, taking into consideration whether their facilities could accommodate the numbers.