Homeowners warned after Hong Kong High Court rejects bid to retain unapproved structures
- Authorities had ordered owners of 876 flats in North Point’s Braemar Hill Mansions to demolish illegal additions in 2018 and 2019
Hong Kong building authorities will consider prosecuting a group of homeowners if they fail to comply with removal orders issued several years ago after the High Court dismissed their judicial challenge over unauthorised structures attached to hundreds of flats for decades.
The Buildings Department issued the warning on Tuesday, a day after the High Court delivered its judgment related to demolition orders handed out in 2018 and 2019 to 876 flats at Braemar Hill Mansions, a private estate in North Point, over illegal structures attached to external walls next to the kitchens.
“[We] will consider instigating prosecution against the relevant owners if no positive response is taken by them in complying with the orders,” the department said.
It added that it would continue to enforce the removal orders in accordance with the law and established procedures.
Among the owners of the 876 flats, 555 took their cases to the Buildings Appeal Tribunal three years ago but lost. Of these, 489 further lodged a judicial review at the High Court against the building authorities in 2022.
The Department of Justice said it had not received any notice of appeal on the case as of Tuesday.