Where is the cheapest place to live?

[jimbo]

Just saw an ad on FB directed at helpers from helpers, 1800 pm for room, 200 for utilities bills, 2K total PM for a room in Sai Kung with shared kitchen and bathroom, u just cant beat these prices LOL

Maybe that's where pickup boy needs to go!

[imparanoic]

Village houses in North District. I know someone who was renting the first two floors (or one floor and a sort of mezzanine) of a village house in Fanling Wai, very close the public swimming pool and the MTR, for 4,000. It was cosy but clean. I have heard that houses in somewhat more mosquito-infested areas of Fanling / Sheng Shui, at the ends of long, windy dirt paths, can be had for just a couple of thousand. And forget the cockroaches. You'll get those anyway. It's the mosquitoes that separate the cheap from the dirt cheap.

depending which villages in north district will also determine the amount of mosquitos, if the villages are tightly packed and near forests or trees ( source of stagnated water), chances of higher concentration of mosquito, it's noted that parts of yuen long and Fairview park has a fair number of mosquito due to swamp like areas (wetlands) surrounding it

typically, a rural house will have mosquito guards on windows

in regards to cockroaches, in a clean rural house, door guards, decent drainage guards, german cockroach ( the most common yet smaller variant of cockroach in hk) is not so common, however, the large American ( built as a tank and up to 5cm long, it's massive) generally don't live in rural houses, unless it's really old and dirty place, they occasionally do fly in through the windows a lot

I note that old tenement housing in less affluent areas have a constant cockroach problem

in regards to cheapness, a typical remote (ish)village in sha tau kok ( very accessible still have main road and frequent mini buses until midnight) 700 sq ft floot within a rural house can be as cheap as HK$5000 per month

also it's note that sea ranch is a isolated cheap paradise for some, but it's super remote and the ferry are not so common, ideal for hermits

[Proplus]

Not referring to cage homes, or living in a cardboard box under a bridge, there are cheap subdivided flats where the tenants share the bathroom and kitchen, and the bedroom being not much big than a single bed for about 2k in most of the more densely populated areas such as Jordan, MK, Wanchai, etc.

One of my colleagues (who lives at home with his parents) rented one of these in Jordan last year for his hobby. He's a local and loves building and painting models, so for about $2k per month, he rented one of these rooms, asked for the bed to be replaced with tables and chairs, and then installed a DIY air extractor piping, and used the room as a small studio for his hobby.

[Morrison]

I collect stamps and old books,
now that's an expensive hobby here.

[chodaboy]

Where does he need to commute to? The commute costs might negate the cheap rent. Or is he just arriving without a long term job commitment?

Suggest looking at Sea Ranch ..

lol the last one.. he wants to come here first, then look for a job.
He was living in Taiwan before teaching English at one of those cram schools, so he'll probably look for another teaching job.

there are cheap subdivided flats where the tenants share the bathroom and kitchen, and the bedroom being not much big than a single bed for about 2k in most of the more densely populated areas such as Jordan, MK, Wanchai, etc.

One of my colleagues (who lives at home with his parents) rented one of these in Jordan last year for his hobby. He's a local and loves building and painting models, so for about $2k per month, he rented one of these rooms, asked for the bed to be replaced with tables and chairs, and then installed a DIY air extractor piping, and used the room as a small studio for his hobby.

My friend is a city-guy, think this would be his type of place to live.
How would one go about looking for a place in Jordon, or Mong Kok? And how does the contracts work? Like, do you have to sign a contract where you have to pay for the first 6 months up front or something along those lines?

[bookblogger]

I know they must be cheap, but who to ask about the villages that line Tai Tam Bay?

My friend used to live in one of those villages for $6,000 a month, which is not bad considering it's the southside.

[bookblogger]

My friend is a city-guy, think this would be his type of place to live.
How would one go about looking for a place in Jordon, or Mong Kok?

All the estate agents in those areas (in fact in most areas) have listings for those shared units. Usually the notices are only in Chinese so you will have to go in and ask.

[HK_Katherine]

You can easily be in the city in the north of New Territorries, HK is after all, just one big city, it just has a different feel (much more local) than Central etc. If you friend is a teacher then he could teach anywhere - he should look into the NET scheme for decent teaching jobs for qualified teachers. They get a housing allowance anyway and you can (and probably better to) apply while overseas.

[wtbhotia]

And how does the contracts work? Like, do you have to sign a contract where you have to pay for the first 6 months up front or something along those lines?

Most common contracts in HK: 2 years contract where the 1st 12 months are fixed and after that either party has 1 months notice to terminate the contract.
2 months deposit + 1 month advance payment + 1/2 month rent commission to the agent, so your friend must have 3 1/2 months rent in cash when signing the contract.

[threelittlepigs]

I'd tell him to stay away from HK. Why live like a prisoner in a little cellsized flat in this overpriced city? Go somewhere else and get a life - I mean that in the nicest possible way.