The Society for Community Organisation (Soco) said some 50,000 households are still living in such units, where tenants have to share kitchens and bathrooms.
Speaking at a press conference, Sze Lai-shan, a community organiser from Soco, said the government should get rid of these homes within a decade, and spend HK$10 billion to build transitional housing to accommodate people in need.
“The grassroots cannot tolerate any more. Actually ten years is a long time, not to mention twenty years,” she said.
A woman surnamed Lau told reporters she has been living in a cage home in Sham Shui Po for the past two decades.
The retired cleaner said she hopes to be allocated a public housing unit as soon as possible.
Another woman surnamed Chan also shared the same wish.
She said she and her husband paid HK$3,800 per month for their 90sq ft flat on the rooftop of a building in Sham Shui Po.