I spent HK$10m to fill in illegal basement, says former Hong Kong chief executive candidate Henry Tang
Failed chief executive candidate Henry Tang Ying-yen said he had spent at least HK$10 million to fill in an unauthorised basement under his York Road residence in Kowloon Tong. The discovery derailed his bid to become chief executive in 2012.
Tang used to be the city’s No 2 official – the chief secretary – before he quit the job to run for chief executive.
READ MORE: Henry Tang’s wife pleads guilty over illegal basement
However, in the run-up to the poll, Tang’s popularity plummeted after it was revealed that he had built a massive basement under his house without authorisation. His major rival, Leung Chun-ying, later won the poll with 689 votes from a 1,200-strong election committee.
At a media gathering today, Tang said the basement had now been filled in with light concrete.
“We proposed filling it up with light concrete, but the Buildings Department said no. They said we needed to fill it up with heavy concrete, which cost more,” Tang recalled.
“But then I read from a newspaper that Leung was allowed to fill up his unauthorised space [in his Peak residence] with light concrete, and we asked why we couldn’t do the same. In the end they said yes to our proposal.”
Tang added that apart from filling in the basement, he also asked a team of young local architects to help him build a passageway connecting his two adjacent houses on York Road, as well as to refurbish the two houses.
“We had considered a big international architectural firm, but we chose the young architects in the end because they are Hongkongers ... They did not have any experience in dealing with private homes, but I decided to let them try,” he said.
Tang added that the local architects he hired had worked on a pier in Sai Kung and a columbarium in Wo Hop Shek.
“We had to remind them that we didn’t want our home to look like a museum ... My wife did a lot of work on the project and she reminded the architects that they had to think of the designs as if they were doing it for their own home.”
The 2,400 sq ft basement at No 7 York Road included a wine cellar and a gymnasium.
Tang said at the time that it was his wife’s idea and that the property was hers. He said he had known it was illegal but as the couple was “experiencing a low ebb in our marriage”, he did not handle the matter swiftly.
Tang’s wife, Lisa, later claimed all responsibility for the project, claiming her husband knew few details. She was found guilty and fined HK$110,000 in 2013 for starting construction without permission.
In a related court case last year, two other building professionals and a contractor involved in the case were acquitted of all charges.
Additional reporting by Ng Kang-chung
