Back
Inside Hong Kong's terrifying 'coffin homes'
Jun 22, 2025
Residents struggling to make ends meet in one of the world's most expensive cities resort to sleeping in tiny properties that are so crammed that they have been dubbed 'coffin homes'.
More than 200,000 people in Hong Kong, China, live in partitioned shoebox apartments that offer just a few feet of space.
The former British colony was ranked as the world's most unaffordable city for a 14th consecutive year and has one of the world's highest rates of inequality.
Even these subdivided flats which can barely fit a double bed have become notorious for high rents.
Travel blogger Drew Binsky, 34, last week shared an astonishing video inside one of the miniscule properties which he labelled the 'sad reality of life in HK'.
Mr Binsky said the rent costs around 250 USD per month, which in current exchange rates converts to around £217.
That fee granted the 34-year-old access to an apartment which contained 26 of the 'coffin homes' inside.
The footage posted by the blogger showed one person living in a 'coffin home' boxed into a small bed, with their belongings pressed up against the wall and strewn across the sheets.
At the end of their bed a small television could be seen almost entirely covered by loose wires and plugs.
The exterior of the property also looks almost entirely derelict, with most typically located in outdated residential buildings in old business areas, allowing access to workplaces and schools.
10Shares
0Comments
10Favorites
15Likes
No content at this moment.