She did not explain how authorities were assisting them in their hunt for premises.

The Home and Youth Affairs Bureau said only 57 per cent, – 267 of 470 councillors – had set up offices by March 15.

Sophia Lee Shuk-woon of Kwun Tong district, one of eight councillors interviewed by the Post, said the biggest headache she faced in finding an office was competition from the commercial sector.

Lee, a first-time councillor, said she had secured a one-year lease at Hiu Lai Shopping Centre, but she remained uncertain when she would be able to open it to the public.

She is using a fellow councillor’s office at present.

“Unlike public estates, where a designated place for district councillors is almost guaranteed, private buildings may not necessarily be welcoming,” Lee said.

“You also need a place accessible to the residents, which limits our choices.”

Rules introduced last December stipulate district councillors must establish an office within three months of taking up their role. Failure to do so could lead to suspension from their duties and having part of their remuneration held back.

The office must be open for at least 40 hours a week. At least four of those hours must be on weekday evenings, weekends or public holidays.

Wan Chai district councillor Lam Wai-kong suggested that authorities adjust the allowance given to the representatives based on their constituencies.

The trade union officer said he had looked at more than 20 places across the district before he settled earlier this month on an upper-floor space that was easy for residents to find and barrier-free. He is scheduled to open it to the public on Monday.

“Reasonably priced places are rare in Wan Chai, where most spaces are commercial,” Lam said. “Ground-floor spaces are downright unaffordable.

“Rent already amounts to 25 per cent of my monthly allowance. I expect that utilities and the internet will cost me another fortune.”

Each councillor gets HK$49,512 (US$6,330) a month for operating costs and a one-off subsidy of HK$120,000 to open a constituency office.

Full-time councillors are paid HK$37,520 a month, and some have said office rent took up almost half that amount.

Godfrey Ngai Shi-shing of Wong Tai Sin district will have his correspondence address located in Tuen Mun until the end of the week, when his team moves into Lung Poon Court in Diamond Hill.

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He said he had spent more than a month looking for a suitable place and another two weeks renovating the office, including installing a drop ceiling and a fire sprinkler system.

“We rushed the renovation a bit, especially since it was Lunar New Year and workers went on holiday,” Ngai said.

He added the office would be open on Friday, two days before the deadline.

Mak said on Sunday that she was aware of the situation but was confident “all the councillors” could open their offices in time.

“Their services are not bound by geographical restrictions,” she said. “They can serve not only the community where their office is located but also the entire district.”

Mak said the penalties for failure to open an office in time were laid out in the District Councils Ordinance.

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She added district officers and district council chairmen-elect had convened rounds of preparatory meetings to discuss topics that concerned the public and how to carry out their work after the election, held last December.

The rule that enabled councillors to open offices outside their constituency areas was introduced in an amendment to the ordinance last July.

The election, held after Beijing overhauled the electoral system, reduced the number of directly elected seats from 452 to 88.

There are 179 appointed seats, 27 ex officio seats and 176 seats elected by members of three government-appointed committees.

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu had said that the changes were made to ensure a “patriots-only” election with “healthy competition”.

The city’s opposition bloc scored a landslide victory in the last election, held at the height of months of anti-government protests in 2019.