30,000 village homes inspected in Hong Kong have illegal structures: minister
Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn says tackling unauthorised additions must be done in stages
Half of the more than 60,000 village houses inspected in Hong Kong have unauthorised structures, but authorities plan to give the owners with minor illegal additions a grace period before ordering removal work due to the huge volume of cases, the development minister has said.
Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn Hon-ho admitted the amount of manpower at the Buildings Department required tackling the problem in stages, noting another 30,000 homes still needed to be inspected.
She estimated the department was aware of village houses in the New Territories with about 100,000 illegal structures of varying sizes, adding that inspection had found additional floors and enclosed balconies.
To cope with the volume, authorities earlier this month suggested the resumption of a scheme giving affected owners a grace period before being required to remove the structures.
The government launched the programme in 2011 as part of an effort to tackle rampant illegal additions to homes across northern Hong Kong.
Homeowners were offered the chance to declare to authorities minor unauthorised additions built before June 28 of that year, with the deadline for registration ending in 2012. By coming forward, the owners would not be issued with an immediate order to remove the structure, but they were required to hire registered professionals to check them every five years, until authorities finally demanded the additions be removed.
