Development minister Bernadette Linn said she expects at least a third of the 36,000 illegal housing structures subject to removal orders to be exempted, if legal amendments to the Buildings Ordinance are passed. Officials are proposing to allow certain unauthorised minor works to be kept if they have been checked and proven safe by approved professionals. The plan is to let officials focus on taking enforcement action against serious violations. Speaking on a TVB programme on Sunday, Linn said the checking fee by authorised experts should cost several thousand dollars on average. She said the government is planning to give homeowners a grace period of three years – after the new laws are passed – to complete the inspection. "The Buildings Department is conducting an analysis on this. It's possible that a third or half of these outstanding removal orders involve minor illegal structures," the minister said. "That means that at least ten thousand of these orders could be subject to checks." Linn said items that could be exempted in future include enclosed balconies as well as flagpoles that are relatively small in size. The legal amendments also include tougher penalties for serious and major illegal structures, as well as a lower prosecution threshold. The development chief added that under the proposed new rules, people who inherit unauthorised works from the previous owner could still be prosecuted, if they didn't remove them within a certain period of time. Linn said this means that going forward, homebuyers should pay greater attention and exercise more caution when making a purchase. A two-month public consultation on the proposal is due to begin later this month, and the amendment bill could be tabled to the legislature in the first half of 2026.
