A concern group on Sunday said residents of subdivided flats may be left homeless as the government proposed plans to put an end to inadequate housing.

The chief executive announced plans in the Policy Address to eradicate substandard subdivided units.

A future legislation will mandate the registration of such dwellings as "basic housing units". Each must be no less than eight square metres, or 86 square feet, in size, and fitted with an individual toilet and at least one window.

Units which fail to meet the set of standards will be outlawed. That could be a headache for tenants, who have to relocate elsewhere.

The Sham Shui Po Housing Concern Mothers' Group surveyed about 70 residents of subdivided flats following the announcement of the proposal.

About eight in 10 respondents said they wished to be directly allocated a public flat, instead of moving to temporary solutions such as light public housing, or transitional homes.

One of them was Amber, who was worried her landlord would evict them in the future because the unit had to be renovated in order to comply with the rules.

The mother of two added possible rehousing plans by the authorities may not be suitable.

"Even if they offer us a light public housing flat or transitional housing, I won't consider. The location is far. I'm not familiar with the new environment, and I don't want my children to transfer to another school," she explained.

Another group member, Lily, feared paying higher rent since there's a minimum size for future units.

"We hope they can build more public housing flats quickly. Some of us have waited for eight to 10 years," she appealed to the government.