bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Vivian Au

Hong Kong authorities will resume a scheme by the end of the year allowing village house owners to keep low-risk unauthorised structures temporarily, provided they are deemed safe by professionals, as the government aims to tackle rampant illegal additions.
In a district council meeting on Tuesday, Director of Buildings Clarice Yu Po-mei said that the reporting of the structures to the government would be made online.
“I think that it [launching the scheme] may have to wait until the end of the year,” she said, adding that the relaunch did not involve law amendments.
The scheme was first launched in 2012, offering homeowners a chance to declare minor unauthorised additions built before June 28, 2011.
The deadline for registration ended in 2012.
By coming forward, owners avoided an immediate order to remove the structure, but required inspections by registered professionals every five years until the authorities declared the need to remove the additions.
Yu conceded the timeline to relaunch the scheme had yet to be confirmed with the Development Bureau, adding that authorities were working on a computer system to handle declarations more efficiently.
In the same meeting, lawmaker and district councillor Chan Yuet-ming supported relaunching the scheme.
“Some villagers missed the declaration at that time,” she said.
Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn Hon-ho said in December last year that it would require huge manpower to tackle the problem in stages, noting that about half of the more than 60,000 village houses inspected in the city had unauthorised structures.
She said that relaunching the scheme would help address the problem.
But unauthorised structures built on or after June 28, 2011, would not be covered, according to authorities, which could still take enforcement action against declared illegal additions in the future.
According to official estimates, village houses had more than 100,000 unauthorised structures. At least a quarter could fit the scheme’s criteria and would not need to be handled immediately.
Linn earlier said authorities would explore giving the same treatment to property owners in urban areas as part of a review of the city’s building laws.
She explained that the government’s current priority was to rectify cases involving serious structural safety risks and nuisance.
“We have already classified some cases as not to be banned [in urban areas]. It doesn’t mean they are legal, we are just not taking immediate action because their scale is small,” she said in November 2023, two months after a landslide exposed unauthorised structures at four seaside homes at Redhill Peninsula in Tai Tam.
Following the Redhill saga, the chief executive pledged to review the Buildings Ordinance, including looking at lowering the prosecution threshold and increasing maximum penalties.
The government later proposed raising the maximum penalty to HK$300,000 and two years in prison for first-time convictions of owners who refused to comply with removal orders issued for “serious” unauthorised structures, such as basements.
It also suggested introducing a new offence that would hold owners accountable for having a “serious” unauthorised structure on a property they acquired after a specific time.


Hong Kong to resume unauthorised temporary structure scheme by end of year

Hong Kong rents hit 5½-year high as demand surges post-holiday season

Hong Kong urged to review public housing income threshold due to new minimum wage

Hong Kong homebuyers deliver brisk weekend sales for developers, as small flats favoured

Hong Kong housing

General view of Pokfulam Village. Half of the more than 60,000 ­village houses inspected have unauthorised structures, but authorities plan to give owners with minor illegal additions a grace period before ordering removal work due to the huge volume of cases. Photo: Jonathan Wong

News

Hong Kong

Society

Scheme aims to tackle rampant illegal additions to village houses totalling more than 100,000 structures


Scheme aims to tackle rampant illegal additions to village houses totalling more than 100,000 structures.


Hong Kong society

Hong Kong property

Urban planning