Survey on usage of Hong Kong’s factory buildings makes no mention of subdivided flats

Members of the Town Planning Board have cast doubt over the findings of a government survey on the usage of industrial buildings, saying illegal and dangerous use such as the provision of subdivided flats has not been reflected in the report.

The questions stemmed from a report unveiled by the Planning Department on Tuesday. Of the 27.85 million square metres of floor space provided by the city’s 1,448 privately owned industrial buildings, the department found that the most of the space was used for storage and warehousing (41.8 per cent), followed by offices (24 per cent) and manufacturing (7.8 per cent).

But the use of 14.4 per cent of the floor area could not be determined in the survey.

At a meeting to hear a briefing on the study yesterday, board member Julia Lau Man-kwan asked whether the department had data on subdivided flats in factory buildings – a phenomenon that has drawn concern over the safety and living conditions of poor residents.

A department representative answered that 0.2 per cent of floor space in the buildings was found to be under residential use, but officials did not know how much of it was taken up by subdivided flats.

Deputy secretary for development Thomas Chan Chung-ching added: “The Buildings Department has a scheme to inspect subdivided flats.”