Hong Kong authorities will relax rules for converting hotels into university student accommodation to ease a supply shortage under a pilot scheme to be launched next month.
In a paper submitted to the Legislative Council on Friday, the Development Bureau said it would expand the definition of “hotels” to include student hostels, waive planning procedures and simplify applications, allowing private operators to build the dormitories on commercial land more easily.
“Under the latest plan, qualified student hostels can be converted from most hotels or commercial buildings without going through any planning procedures,” a bureau spokesman said.
The pilot scheme, which has attracted support from the private sector, will be launched in mid-July.
Under current rules, operators need to seek approval from the Town Planning Board or even rezone land to convert commercial buildings or hotels into student hostels, which adds to project times and costs.
The spokesman said the changes could help save operators about six to nine months that would have been spent completing conversion procedures.
Authorities will also consider providing greater flexibility on waiving floor area requirements if the projects convert covered parking areas into gyms or study rooms to help create a better living environment for students.
In his annual policy address last October, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said the government aimed to develop a “Study in Hong Kong” brand to help turn the city into an international hub for post-secondary education.
But a shortage of student accommodation is one of the hurdles the initiative faces.
Figures from the Education Bureau showed that the city’s eight publicly funded universities had about 103,400 students in the 2024-25 academic year.
The tally included about 76,900 Hongkongers and around 26,500 non-locals in full-time undergraduate and postgraduate research programmes, but excluded about 1,210 in taught postgraduate courses.
The tertiary education institutions only offered about 40,600 dormitory places, according to government data.
In an effort to find accommodation, some students were opting to cram into small flats with their peers to cut costs or even live across the border and commute to class.
Asked about the expected supply and demand of student hostels in the near future, an Education Bureau spokesman anticipated an increase in demand but stopped short of providing detailed figures.
According to property consultancy Knight Frank, the city had 10 private student hostels in Kowloon and on Hong Kong Island as of last year, with about 3,000 beds set aside for those studying at five of the city’s universities.
Property services company Centaline Investment recently bought and turned a Tsim Sha Tsui hotel near Polytechnic University into a student hostel to capitalise on demand.
“The proposal from the government is a step in the right direction,” said company CEO Kavis Ip Ming-wai, adding that the move could speed up the industry’s development.
She said the hotel was undergoing renovation work that was expected to be completed by July.
“We would like to apply for the scheme,” she said, noting that the firm hoped to convert some unused spaces into laundry facilities if its application was successful.
She said that some hotel owners were discussing the possibility of converting their venues into student dormitories, while other international industry stakeholders were watching the Hong Kong market and were interested in getting involved.
Ip said she believed that if authorities relaxed the rules, it could create momentum and international buzz for the student hostel industry.
“It is just like injecting a booster shot,” she said.
She said that the trial scheme would not significantly reduce costs, as it only affected professional fees. But the move could help save time.
Hong Kong Metropolitan University, a self-financing institution in Ho Man Tin, told the Post earlier that it had worked with private operators to offer several hundred beds for students. The university had also acquired a hotel in Hung Hom that would provide 430 beds after renovation.
Paul Lam Kwan-sing, the university’s president, said it would begin renovation work in the summer, and he believed the scheme could be beneficial.
“It’s a bit late, but still on time,” he said, adding that the institution would apply for the scheme next month.
He noted that about 836 square metres of the hotel consisted of a car park and laundry facilities, which could be converted under the scheme into common areas to be used more effectively.
Lawmaker Andrew Lam Siu-lo said that even if the government provided land for the universities now, it would take three to four years before the city could address the shortage of student hostels.
The Legislative Council is expected to discuss the issue next week. - SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
