Two owners of luxury homes at Redhill Peninsula have been fined more than HK$110,000 (US$14,015) in total after admitting to carrying out unauthorised building works, the first convictions among 30 prosecutions taken against the landlords of the estate on Hong Kong Island where rampant illegal structures were found.
A spokesman for the Buildings Department said on Friday evening the two owners pleaded guilty at Eastern Court to carrying out unauthorised building works on Thursday. They were convicted, with one fined HK$30,000 and the other HK$82,980.
The maximum penalty for commencing or carrying out building works without first obtaining approval and consent from the department is a fine of HK$400,000 and two years’ imprisonment, plus a further fine of HK$20,000 for each day that the illegal structure continues standing.
The department revealed the two cases were the first convictions out of 30 prosecutions of owners at the estate in Tai Tam.
The spokesman said the owners of the two detached houses concerned were found to have conducted building works without prior approval or consent from the department during a large-scale inspection in September 2023.
Landslides triggered by a record-breaking downpour earlier that year had drawn attention to extensive illegal additions at the seaside community, ranging from swimming pools to basement on public slopes.
