Bedspace apartment

A bedspace apartment (Chinese: 牀位寓所), also called cage home (籠屋), coffin cubicle, or coffin home (棺材房), is a type of residence that is only large enough for one bunk bed surrounded by a metal cage.^[1]: 23 This type of residence originated in Hong Kong, and primarily exists in older urban districts such as Sham Shui Po, Mong Kok, To Kwa Wan, and Tai Kok Tsui. In 2007, there were approximately 53,200 people living in cage homes in Hong Kong.^[2]

Generally, the residents are low-income people, including the elderly, drug users, and some low-skilled or unskilled labourers.^[3] Reports from the Legislative Council of Hong Kong found that the people who lived in cage homes were those who did not qualify for social welfare, or subsidised rent or electricity.^[4] Most of the residents are male. Safety and other living conditions in bedspace apartments homes are often poor.

While often called cage homes, they are categorised as "bedspace apartments" by the Hong Kong Government. According to the Bedspace Apartment Ordinance, the term "bedspace apartment" refers to a house that contains 12 or more people who rent bedspaces individually. It is legal to run these bedspace apartments, but landlords must first apply for a special license.^[5][6]