Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying will spend at least HK$9.95 million of taxpayers' money to renovate his new home, the Government House on Upper Albert Road, before moving in in the autumn.
The amount will cover, among other things, a full-scale replacement of rooftop tiles and 'other scheduled maintenance and refurbishment' to preserve the 157-year-old colonial mansion and 'rectify major defects', the Chief Executive's Office told the South China Morning Post.
'The Architectural Services Department is now working on the interior alteration and improvement proposals for Government House for the chief executive and his family having regard to the modest and conservative principles,' the office said in a statement. 'Since these works are in design stage, the cost estimate is not yet available.'
Lawmakers have urged Leung's administration to be 'transparent' in releasing details of the renovations - alterations that might be vetoed or curtailed by the Antiquities Authority, as the Government House has been declared a monument since 1995.
Leung's office said the roof tiles were last given a major overhaul in 1979, and subsequent piecemeal repairs could no longer contain 'acute' water seepage.
Authorities dovetailed the timing of these works with the change of term of the chief executive as the maintenance 'will cause great inconvenience to the occupants', said Leung's office.