British envoy's pricey Hong Kong home 'goes over the top'

Britain's new consul-general has moved into Hong Kong's most expensive apartment block - giving her the grandest home of any British envoy in the city since Chris Patten left Government House 16 years ago.

Caroline Wilson lives in an apartment that takes up the entire third floor of Opus, the new 12-storey Swire development on Stubbs Road where a higher floor was sold for HK$455 million, making it the world's second most expensive flat.

Wilson's move comes at a time when London's Foreign and Commonwealth Office is slashing mission costs after its budget was cut from £1.6 billion (HK$19.3 billion) to £1.36 billion.

The British consulate refused to say how much rent it was paying for the residence, but a duplex unit in the same block was provisionally leased for HK$850,000 a month last year before the tenant pulled out of the deal.

Cambridge-educated Wilson, a barrister and a rising star in the diplomatic service, took over as consul-general in October after a four-year stint as trade envoy in Moscow.