Judge ‘made a mistake’ over Housing Authority’s HK$71m bill in management fees on Tin Shui Wai flats hit by short-piling scandal
Ruling finds that time period for interest charges was not sufficiently defined and ask tribunal to revisit calculations
The fees stemmed from two Tin Chung Court blocks that were taken off the market in the wake of a short-piling scandal in 1999 – when foundations of two blocks were found to be seven metres shorter than the standard requirement – and were unable to be sold until 2013, following extensive structural repair.
The Housing Authority argued that the tribunal judge had failed to consider the limitation defence that the claim could only be made within 12 years.
As Mok made the claim to the tribunal in 2013, the authority found the judge could only rule for the management fees starting from 2001.
The appeal court found the tribunal’s judge, while delivering her ruling in July last year failed to consider this argument from the authority, and set the amount from 1999.
The judges in today’s ruling wrote: “In the present case, we are of the view that the judge was clearly wrong in barring the [Housing Authority] from relying on the limitation defence.”