Housing chief: 73,800 subdivided flat owners apply for three-year grace period, figures better than expected

More than 73,000 owners of subdivided housing units in Hong Kong have applied for a three-year grace period to meet the government's minimum standards, with Housing Secretary Winnie Ho Wing-yin saying the number of applications was better than expected. The authorities received about 73,800 applications during the early registration period under the Basic Housing Units Ordinance, which ended on August 31, with the figure close to nearly 70 per cent of the city's estimated subdivided units.