Owners of Mid-Levels tenement say ‘illegal’ basement businesses are a safety hazard
The owners of 40 Elgin Street filed a complaint in February 2010 about the illegal construction of a basement, which now serves as three prime shop spaces facing the busy Central-Mid-Levels Escalator on Shelley Street
Frustrated owners of a tenement block in Mid-Levels are accusing the Buildings Department of negligence after trying in vain for six years to restore an “illegal” basement which they believe is jeopardising structural safety.
The incorporated owners of 40 Elgin Street, a five-storey mixed use building, filed a complaint in February 2010 about the illegal construction of a basement, which now serves as three prime shop spaces facing the busy Central-Mid-Levels Escalator on Shelley Street.
An occupation permit granted in May 1963 has designated the ground floor as “shops for non-domestic use”, and “two tenements” on each of the first to fifth floors. It made no mention of the basement.
Land Registry records show that ownership of the basement was transferred to two individuals in 1987 for a combined HK$850,000.
Sharif Khan, chairman of the incorporated owners, said lawyers representing the basement owners had claimed the shop spaces were already there when the transaction was made.
The Buildings Department confirmed in May 2010 that the building’s foundation was partially removed.