Hong Kong authorities seek to tighten rules on guest houses
Proposed law changes will plug guest-house licensing loopholes and give government more power to crack down on illegal accommodation
The city is considering plugging a loophole in the law that has seen about 200 guest houses licensed by the government, even though they are in buildings that do not allow temporary accommodation or commercial activities.
Authorities are also seeking a crackdown on illegal guest houses through granting the government more power, making it easier to haul offenders to court.
The proposals were made in a public consultation launched by the Home Affairs Bureau yesterday to amend the 23-year-old Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Ordinance, after a fire in a North Point building - home to a number of guest houses - injured 25 people in December.
Residents should have more say over the licensing of such facilities located in the buildings in which they live, according to the consultation document.
On catching violators of the law, home affairs director Pamela Tan Kam Mi-wah said: "If there is enough circumstantial evidence, such as advertisements on a guest house or the presence of a lot of towels or bedlinen, we should be able to establish that the place is a guest house."
This would rectify situations in which certain flats were clearly used to accommodate travellers, but where the owners or tenants could not be prosecuted because government officers had not witnessed travellers making payment, Tan said.