SPECIAL ISSUE The impacts of housing factors on deprivation in a world city: The case of Hong Kong Hung Wong | Siu-ming Chan Department of Social Work, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong Correspondence Hung Wong, Department of Social Work, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong. Email: hwong@cuhk.edu.hk Funding information Strategic Public Policy Research Grant, Central Policy Unit of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China, Grant/ Award Number: 4003-SPPR-11 Abstract Hong Kong is a typical example of a world city that faces escalating poverty and housing problems. Problems related to housing are crucial in determining deprivation. By means of hierarchical linear regression on a representative survey of Hong Kong residents in 2014, this study exam- ines the impacts of household income and housing factors on the deprivation of residents in Hong Kong. The study indicates that income level has a crucial effect on the dep- rivation level of households; whereas housing cost per capita, living area per capita, and living quarter problems significantly influence deprivation. A small interacting effect exists between household income and housing fac- tors, which do not influence the independent effects of living area per capita and living quarter problems on depri- vation. For the public rental housing residents, only the effect of living quarter problem on deprivation is signifi- cant, whereas for private rental housing residents, living area per capita and living quarter problem have a signifi- cant effect. Among all the models, housing expense per capita is a significant factor only in model for over- crowded households. The study recommends that improv- ing the maintenance and renovation schemes for public and private housing with poor living environment is a good strategy to improve housing conditions and depriva- tion. The study suggests that anti-poverty policies must consider strategies and measures that can improve the housing factors, including housing expenses, living density and living quarter maintenance problems, especially for Received: 3 March 2019 Revised: 17 July 2019 Accepted: 25 July 2019 DOI: 10.1111/spol.12535 Soc Policy Admin. 2019;1–17. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/spol © 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd 1