According to some sources, the Kai Tak Community Separation Facility may be converted into a "youth hostel" to meet the housing needs of young people.

The former Director of Planning, Mr Ling Ka-kan, agrees that the Kai Tak segregated community facilities are not suitable for families as they do not have individual kitchens, but are suitable for conversion into youth hostels, which require institutional management and the conversion of some units into public space.

The Secretary for Housing, Mr Ho Wing-yin, mentioned the possibility of converting the Kai Tak segregated facilities into different uses, including "simple public housing" or youth hostels, when introducing the "simple public housing" project recently.

Sources said the government intends to convert the Kai Tak segregated facilities into youth hostels, as the four-storey building at Kai Tak has about 3,000 rooms, a lift and separate toilets with television sets and electric steam ovens, and some of the units enjoy a sea view and are near the city, which is better than other segregated facilities.

Speaking to Hong Kong Wen Wei Po, Mr Ling said the Kai Tak isolation facility does not have a separate kitchen and is not suitable for families, but is more suitable for a youth hostel.

He believes that youth hostels should be managed by organisations that provide various kinds of support to young people, "including employment, counselling, career planning and various activities. He therefore believes that the facilities at Kai Tak should reserve some units for conversion into community spaces to provide different services and organise activities, while the nearby park can also host open-air concerts and other cultural activities to facilitate the participation of young people living in the youth hostels and other members of the public.

As for other segregated facilities, Ling Ka-kan believes that we need to look at the possible uses of each unit according to its environmental conditions. For example, the segregated facilities in Tsing Yi do not have separate sanitary facilities, so it is difficult to convert them into transitional housing or "simple public housing". It is not cost effective to spend time and money on the conversion.

He believes that there is still a need to retain some of the community isolation facilities in Hong Kong, "as the new coronavirus will not subside and it is not known whether a new variant of the virus will emerge in the future to cause a new wave of outbreak, so isolation facilities that are difficult to change their use should be retained and can be re-opened when necessary.