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Expat Tax Blog

The hardship post in expat paradise

There is trouble in the plutocrat’s paradise that is Hong Kong. Expatriate bankers’ rental allowances have been slashed, sometimes by as much as half, and property agents report that rents for flats costing from US$10,256 to US$23,077 per month fell by 18 per cent in the first three quarters of 2011 because fewer bankers can afford such rents. Just last summer, one of the executives at a US hedge fund company was complaining but also bragging about having held his landlord to a mere 90 per cent increase in his rent. This correspondent, who has never had to manage his household finances in the face of such extortion, did not have the temerity to ask why the executive elected to renew his lease.

Now, all is change. The market for rents in the range of US$25,000 to US$32,000 has been particularly hard hit because some financial institutions and banks have chosen not to fill vacancies at the director level, says one property agency. Many financial industry expatriates are reportedly considering moving down from the rarefied higher reaches of Hong Kong’s Mid Levels to Discovery Bay, which requires a ferry ride to Hong Kong’s central business district – and used to be called “Delivery Bay” because so many young couples pushing prams chose to live there. All this on top of many bankers’ offices moving to a huge new financial centre in Kowloon, which had already made commuting more arduous than the typical five to 10 minute taxi ride.

Source: ft.com

From → expat life, expat tax

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