Only four of Hong Kong's 110,000 subdivided homes have applied for certification under a new law aimed at phasing out substandard housing. The low participation rate highlights potential challenges in implementing the regulations.

Hong Kong landlords have put forward just four of the city’s 110,000 subdivided homes for certification approval in the two-and-a-half months since a new law was enacted to phase out substandard living spaces, highlighting a low participation rate. Three of the applications were submitted by a single landlord, Hayson Chan Hin-hay, chairman of the Hong Kong Basic Housing Units Operators Association. Chan told the South China Morning Post that it took him about two months to renovate the...