Rural affairs organisation the Heung Yee Kuk is backing two families in court fights over illegal structures at their homes in the New Territories as it steps up its opposition to a government crackdown.
The cases involve four-storey homes in Ha Tsuen, Yuen Long, and Kam Tsin Village, Sheung Shui, which are subject to demolition orders from the Buildings Department for exceeding the three-storey limit on village houses.
The kuk will find lawyers to fight the two cases and hopes to file an application for judicial review of one case to the High Court shortly.
As part of a new policy introduced on April 1, buildings officers will take immediate enforcement action for 'severe' breaches of building rules, including homes with extra storeys.
The kuk has long opposed the crackdown, and says the two homes should be exempt from building control as they stand on land granted under so-called 'block government leases' dating back to 1905.
It hopes to create a test case on whether such homes are exempt from recent building restrictions.
'We hope to put up a hard fight at court,' kuk member and lawyer Lam Kwok-cheong said after a private meeting yesterday. 'We will supply all our arguments about our traditional rights protected by the Basic Law and the special background of block government leases.'