Mei Ho House
Mei Ho House, situated in Shek Kip Mei Estate, was built in 1954. Being one of Hong Kong’s first few batches
of public housing estates, it was built to accommodate the victims from the Shek Kip Mei Squatter Area fire
that broke out on Christmas Eve, 1953. It also marks the beginning of Hong Kong Government’s construction
of resettlement blocks and the implementation of a public housing plan. It was rated as a Grade II historic
building by Antiquities Advisory Board in 2010.
Mei Ho House is of a reinforced concrete structure. It is known as a Mark I “H” type resettlement block. The
two wings are residential units flanked by long corridors. The central passageway connecting the two wings
serves as a public area, where faucets, washing area, toilets, and bathrooms are situated. The residential
units are not equipped with kitchens; tenants are therefore required to install their stoves in the corridor
for cooking. Mei Ho House is now being redeveloped by the Hong Kong
Youth Hostels Association into a city hostel. The project is expected to
be completed in early 2012.
