Authorities find many Hong Kong luxury homes inspected in latest round of checks after landslides not complying with law
- Homes at Redhill Peninsula illegally occupying government land or include unauthorised structures on property, inspection finds
- Inspection of 85 houses was ordered by Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn in wake of landslide caused by September storm
Hong Kong authorities have found at least 13 out of 14 inspected homes have either been confirmed or suspected to have encroached on government land or built unauthorised structures at a luxury estate in Tai Tam.
The buildings and lands departments launched a joint inspection last month of unauthorised building works and unlawful occupation of government land by houses on the seafront of the Redhill Peninsula private housing estate after landslides exposed illegal works.
Authorities said inspectors entered six out of 10 houses and collected evidence on September 22. They found all six had encroached on government land as well as built unauthorised structures. The owners of the remaining four houses contacted the government to schedule the mandatory inspections.
During another inspection of 24 houses on Wednesday, inspectors entered eight premises, out of which at least seven were suspected to have unlawfully occupied government land or had built unauthorised structures.
The owners of another 14 houses contacted the government to arrange inspections. The government said authorities planned to apply for warrants to allow inspectors to enter the remaining two houses.
The inspection had covered 34 houses by noon on Friday.