A court has put off issuing a closure order for a Tai Kok Tsui industrial block yesterday, stalling the government's first attempt to clamp down on cubicle flats in such buildings.
District Court Judge Stephen Chow Siu-hung decided to hear a tenant opposed to the shutdown before ruling on the closure application. The hearing will be held on Monday.
The Buildings Department applied to close a few levels of the Larch Street building to demolish illegal structures. Illegal additions to the roof and subdivided flats had been reported.
Wallace Kan, who has been renting the fourth and fifth floors and the rooftop since 2007 for 'a few thousand dollars', objected to the closure.
Kan told the court it would cost him financially and he needed time to move out.
He denied subletting illegal cubicles, saying the spaces were leased out for storing goods only. He admitted having illegal structures, but said some had existed before his tenancy.