Exposing the invisible land grab by Hong Kong’s rich
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- Опубліковано 16 тра 2024
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An investigation by the South China Morning Post has uncovered rampant land grabs in some of Hong Kong’s priciest residential properties. Some buildings were found to have been extended by encroaching into government land without authorisation, while others appeared to have suspected unauthorised additions. Such actions have been criticised not only because of structural safety, but also fairness - since additions and other changes can drive up the prices of properties. Penalties are unlikely for building law violators unless they fail to comply with removal orders. Critics also say wealthier homeowners often have the financial means to delay legal proceedings.
Related story:
Exposing Hong Kong’s invisible land grab by owners of luxe homes sc.mp/6nwzo
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"If the penalty for a crime is a fine, then that law only exists for the lower class"
Well said. That's why they added jail term. But again that could be evaded by the rich with enormous donations.
One of my fav saying. Too true.
Can’t agree anymore
Asmongold
Rather, "It's legal, for a price."
Those are the worst looking multi million dollar homes I've ever seen
Its china what can you expect
Coz HK's dense population means these old town houses are considered ''big'' mansions since the lower class all live in tiny apartments
@@szn7548 Tf does China has to do with how houses in Hong Kong looks, do some research before you start yapping about ''iTs cHiNa''
But you have seen them.
Its the value of the land not the building itself. Land is rare in HK.
If penalty was based on encroached property value fined daily and being able to freeze bank accounts immediately, they’ll fall in line.
rich people building big houses is hardly hong kong's biggest problem right now
@@davidanalyst671 I would disagree. This land grab is just another form of tax avoidance by the wealthy which has exacerbated wealth inequality. I would argue this massive and growing wealth gap is the biggest issue facing the entire world as it leads to the breakdown of social order, which we can see many examples on all continents today.
@@davidanalyst671 what is then? free speech?😂
@@davidanalyst671does the government can only do one thing? u r so dumb
@@davidanalyst671Hong kong has the highest real estate prices in earth. This is quite literally their biggest problem
Land grab by the rich/wealthy AND big corporations is a silent problem (in around the world, not just in HK) that needs to talk about more often and inform the public (e.g., publish their names to expose them). Lawmakers in all countries should craft policies and revise the law to tackle this issue.
unfortunately those in power are in cahoots with the wealthy or maybe they themselves are the perpetuators so why would they penalize themselves..
I think in the UK, land grabbing is mostly legal if done right. That is, if you're not discovered, then years later you can make a claim that you've been using it and legally make it yours. However, if before it's yours, you sell your property and include land that isn't yours. Then that's very illegal. :D
Hong Kong is a rich man's playground where the HK govt is weak to do anything to them. That's why ordinary people there have problems getting a decent public flat that's not just fit for pigeon.
id bet alot of those properties are government employees
Same happening in mainland, those riches tries their best to grab and steal from the people, and this is why Chinese people support the government to discipline the big Capticals, while western media demonize CPC on this, for in Angelo Saxon countries, the Big Money are untouchable, they can control the government and change the laws to make their lootering behaviour legal, but they are not that "free" in China!
@@rhetorical1488 it's impossible for government staff have that kind of money, unless it came from corruption but having this kind of house would instantly trigger suspicion, so no.
@@doomer704 its the house of the mistress where they hide the cash
I agree with @ymhktravel. This is how to tell that H.kong is really not democratic at all if corrupt rich wealthy people can encroach on govt land and use it for themselves, while poor H.kong people live in tiny matchbox homes every day of their lives. They might as well migrate to Taiwan or mainland China to get better housing for them and families.
Being wealthy is not enough for these people, they also insist on committing crimes and stealing from the public.
They're not really stealing from the public though, all land in Hong Kong is owned by the PRC and managed by the HK government.
It's leased to businesses and land owners, when they violate their lease terms what's happening is the government is not getting their money stolen they're just losing out on money they could be making which is their opportunity cost.
sounds about right
sounds about right
The same people who supported and funded hk protest 2019, fled hk or in hk prison now.
the saying in madnarin translates roughly as thus: if you can cheat, cheat. it is a way of life there
Government has to do something about this, can't let this slide, the audacity and sense of entitlement from these people just outrageous.
@@Joe-sg9llchina used to give out free houses
@@chatter4427yeah but the rich in Hong Kong hold 50% of the voting power, so it's pretty easy for them to do as they please.
It’s difficult because they would definitely band together to put pressure on govt to look the other way.
@Joe-sg9ll That doesn't sound as smart as you think. It's clear that you dont even know socialism. Just read the Communist Manifesto for once, is like under 30 pages.
When they said the ownership of private property, the catch is in capitalism, it didn't say how much you can own. If it did, it spewed whatever it said...because the inevitability is people will use that to take whatever they feel like taking. That's how capitalism works. Communism though? Capitalism with a few people practicing it and the rest under technocratic feudalism. Or feudalism in particular, but extremely one sided. Fact is, we can and could practice communism successfully, and we have. In Kibbutz communities, Amish settlers, etc... small off grid communities to almost medium. But when you talk about socialism, the thing is people forget- it is to the community. When they involve any government, any state at all, it ceases to be communism or socialism. It has characteristics, not the system itself. People will argue using the old ancient, useless propped up cold war mentality, but the fact is it's simply just capitalism, in whatever system that China, Russia, or US and the Western Blocs have. Even what Mao and the past had done, that was based on poorly instituted communist practices they malevolently butchered. It's always been the rich, whether and whatever humans in power or those who agree with them or otherwise, that has been how it worked, not always. You might complain about China, but your own nations are far more deceitful and ruthless, more so than China. At least we have it all out to see for what the government does in China, whereas the West is completely an insidious entity that preys on humanity's hopes.
The rudeness of the office woman is very telling. She’s definitely hiding something.
She is only an employee and takes instructions from her bosses. Such reactions are very common when reporters do investigations. I watched them on TV almost every week.
Pretty fair reaction in her position. Why do the reporters expect a simple corporate representative to know about some works done on what clearly seems like the boss's residential property? They don't, they just want to record a rude response so they can project negativity in their news, and in turn twist the perspective of innocent public like yourself to dislike the owners.
Is the issue bad? Yes. Are the owners questionable? Yes. Can the government do better? Yes. Does the employee have anything to do with any of this? NO.
Put yourself in her shoes. Anything you say might be used against you. A direct rejection to respond is the obvious course of action.
5:00 awwww that dog approached the drone in full curiosity mode
lol came here to say guard dog reporting for duty lol
great investigative journalism ! thanks for this, scmp.
I don't think the government let the issue slide purposely. The problem is most of these wealthy owners and corporations can afford to fight the government in court. Even though it is a fairness and safety concern, violations in urban areas are more like to cause greater harm. Laws needs to be passed ASAP regarding the illegal use of government land. Owners should not be able to fight it in court with whatever excuse they have.
The more money you have the more you want, it’s never enough, and greed always backfires at some point!
More money more problems.
More money is the better of course
Capitalism is great huh?
They made the money because they wanted it in the first place though, so greed is also what got them there
In the UK, if a building is built against regulations the owner is forced to demolish the extension / building - if they refuse, the government will do it and send them the bill!
That’s where the 4 year rule applies where if an unauthorised extension has been in place for 4 years retrospectively. They are granted homeowners immunity.
Why no hurry to enforce the rules?
Because many HK senior civil servants and politicians are themselves living in properties with illegal extensions.
Any proofs on that?
@@ruslankolotogin the inaction speaks for itself.
And they would also accuse “communism” if government put a stop to it
@@KHMCHNHcommunism with capitalistic similarities
Same thing happen in Malaysia, Sabah.
This raises a question that if SCMP discovers a crime committed by a resident, are they obliged to file a complaint to the Police Department or simply write an article on their papers? Because once authorities get involved, the offenders then must face legal actions.
The SCMP will face legal actions at last.
You should let their insurance companies know about these properties to the insurance companies if these building are in more danger of collapsing. Unless Insurance companies are already increasing normal people's home insurance premiums to subsidise or offset any catastrophe's happening to these rich residents' homes.
These properties owners do it because...THEY CAN and know the government is not doing anything. those penalty HKD 200K..is a weekend meal for these rich people. Nevertheless thanks SCMP for reporting this. We need continuous pressure on the government
here i live in a somewhat rural town... where there are government housings.. EVERY single family in such housings extend their property to whatever direction available as much as they can afford it...
rules aside, this highlights the need of space as a necessity and property
Meanwhile, I live in a cubicle room measures 2m x 2m.
😂😂
So sad
I live in Mumbai slum sharing a toilet with a lot of people😢
@@isleephungry
Sharing toilet is no big deal, we share our wives in the tiny cubicle room.
@@Hkchinese888😂
@@Hkchinese888loser pindia
And they say not enough land to accommodate the poor who have to live in cage homes or shoe box homes, the world was never fair and never will be…
Well lots of naive people believe what they want to believe…
This is basically the Hong Kong version of the film Parasite. It's just a real documentary instead of a dark humor. Exposing the rich instead of the poor because of the rainstorm. Surreal!
South China Morning Post, Great Report on illegal land grab by Rich HongKong residents. A few suggestions:
(1) Show this video to Mainland Chinese authorities & officials.
(2) Even if some officials are corrupt, some upstanding politician & officials will purse this case for their own career.
(3) Those residents should be fined & forced to cough up the amount. They all live in more than 3 million $ villas , castles & manors yet can't pay decent fines ?? Any restoration should be given by these owners .
(4) If owners give in writing that they won't pay the amount due to bankruptcy or other reasons, part of their legal property should be taken by the government as fine . Utilise that seized property as hospital , school , college , officials residence, refuge housing for the very poor of the society. Eg Poor people won't complain if those bunkers are used as homes for them .
I am afraid that those rich own the government and without public support, the government can't afford to offend the rich
Laws are designed with some loopholes to encourage investments in the hope that those investments would have an ROI that outweighs the cons. But if mismanaged and in certain cases, intentional oversight, these loopholes become gaping crevices of inequality and environmental damage.
Hong kong has high af land prices and government claims to have low avaliable land to build housing but realisticly hongkong only used around 20 % of the actually land
I wonder how many government officials live in those buildings.
Regina Ip Lau lives in a villa located in Tai Mo Shan
In my country this happens all the time. Those from higher caste are untouchables.
india eh
India ?
Pakistan 😂
and they even grab government-owned lands by promising to build public facitlites over there
India 🇮🇳 pindu pindia
Rich Hong Kong residents have rich rivals equally connected with the new “one
country one system”
government. The best means for enforcement would be to alert rival elites to report.
In China mainland, no Big Money can control the government and change the laws to make their lootering behaviour legal. The problem is one country two system, those rich take the advantage to keep doing the same thing that they have been doing - exploiting people of whole Hong Kong. It should be one country one system, so they will be disciplined by a government they can't run over.
@@wyz9815 The previous HK government was too inefficient and corrupted. Otherwise all these things wouldn't have happened.
@@wyz9815In mainland China the Big Money IS the government lol
This kind of corruption is growing as wealth inequality increases around the world. The only way to stop it is to put pressure on governments with unbiased reporting such as this. Great reporting, thanks for the insightful content.
oh wow, those trees surrounding those illegal structures sure do look flammable. I wonder what Oda nobunaga would have done.
considering hed be stuck on the island and not on the mainland ....send angry diplomats?
They are not very smart. They forget that trees too close can cause damages to the foundations of their houses. Their trunks grow. They even put aesthetics before safety.
Almost 10 million for a house that looks like it was built by a retired fisherman from Jamaica?
Great investigative journalism, congratulations.
Wow their fine is so minimal only HKD 20,000 per day for delay in removal. It should be HKD 3,000,000 per day or more if they failed to remove these illegal structures.
Proper investigative journalism
I don't understand the issue... people covering this as news just seem petty.
Impossible for something like this to happen without the government at least being OK with it. Corruption seems more likely
No corruption ... just turning a blind eye as it's expensive to prosecute.
Actual investigative journalism!
for 10m usd, all those houses look like they are really small with tiny rooms. no thanks.
I used to see this in Milton Keynes UK, with people extending their gardens, into public land. Which should be for everyone to enjoy, not for the selfish few. All you can do is inform the local council, and home the council threaten legal action. If the fence is not put back to its original position.
Guess what? Nothing will happen because they’re either too corrupt or too spineless to do anything about it.
rules for thee but not for me
Jyzt imagine he can buy 10million usd house do his wealth exceeds every bit of that extra land occupied.hed buy it off
And because these wealthy people will accuse CCP/communism of oppressing them if they are forced to stop
They are expanding their luxury mansions, but subdivided houses are everywhere. This is unfair.
These houses look more like factories… abysmal. No character at all.
Y no site inspections by authorities upon completion of the building projects?
Corruption is everywhere
Isn't it ironic that the very people who hold positions in the government are the ones occupying government land? Are they the ones making laws to remove themselves from power?
Decades of a weak HK government.
who cares if rich people build their houses 15 feet over their permits? Who cares if China takes over your country? So does this video really portray what is important to the people of HK?
that "big house" has some sneaky stuff going on under it, it has 3 huge vents way off to the side. Why they need 3 vents that big. And there is a propane tank right there too hidden with some grey material
exactly! It looks like a full-on unclear shelter, what's going on down there🧐
@@rorschachgotnicemask9449 most the time needing that much airflow is for drugs
@@baptistejean4316or large spaces...
This is super common practice in HongKong with any homeowners, not just with the super rich. The housing market is so inflated there that any livable space they can add they will (most of the time illegally), and their property value rises as a result.
Some are so rich that if they get caught and made to pay for restoration of the land it's just chump change. Others have connections and get around it either as favors or bribes.
Happens in U.S. also but not on a scale like this because corruption is more common in HK/China.
Corruption is everywhere some places more masqueraded than others
What's the big deal.
The government won't or isn't using that small patch of land so if the citizens are using it what's wrong.
It's incredible how rich Chinese, even spending as much as 50 millions on a property, are still all cramped up in a tiny space...
Certainly an interesting contrast with the swift enforcement action taken against independent bookshop Mount Zero in Sheung Wan. Too bad SCMP doesn't have the minerals or editorial policy to explain why that is.
Is it legal to use drones on people's property?
It is simply human selfishness, obviously all you need is one to break the law and the rest will simply follow and act ignorance when authorities starts to do crackdowns.
Like most government, HK govt simply brush aside such rampant crimes to avoid offending the rich and goes after the average or poor instead.
same goes to people in my country, they build illegal farm and continue farming for 5 years ++. When the government which is a bit corrupted try to take down the farm. Law sided with the farmer and they can keep the farm. So its just the same with this.
Now that it's talked about on international level if the government do nothing that will show you how much power wealth have over Hongkong government.
HK government needs CPC to come in and fix their city.
happens everywhere. Problem is that they wont do anything about it
Please update us and keep exposing how the rich take advantage of the society! Great job!
It's called Greed. Luxury homes barely occupied while real people live in tiny 'cage home' apartments. Heartbreaking.💔 Needs to change.
How is that the rich people's fault? Hold your government accountable!
so... like in all countries in the world?
Of course its illegal but the guy saying its a castle/plaza because they added a back yard thats smaller than 90% of the worlds houses is silly.
Likely the authorities won't touch these offenders who are rich, powerful and has the connections. That is the reality.
9 million dollars for that trash???
"City plans say my property ends where?? That can't be right... look - all our homes come out this far, there must be some kind of mistake on your end."
How intrusive could they be
Why has this come to the surface now? Why did people not know about this until part of one house tumbled down like a cliff edge? Don't Google Maps provide satellite images of this area?
This is where insurance companies can step in an deter homeowners from doing this. Your building plans don't match what on the government records, you have 1000+ sq feet not even on record. We won't pay for loss or insure your home. I guarantee you homeowners would think twice about building illegal add-ons again.
They would have to pay a fine which costs as much as the structures built, the structures would have to get demolished and they would have to pay the same value they paid for the additional structures to the community. And they would have to do 5 years of social work.
The simple solution is for the government land not to be recognised in the valuation of the property at the time of sale. In addition, for every sqft of illegal structure, their should be a penalty applied (e.g. 50% of the sqft value) that will be taken out as part of the tax on the sale of the property, unless the illegal structure is destroyed and return to original condition.
Then property price will increase to compensate the extra cost, if that meant you can ‘legally’ use the illegal land
I know someone who have built an extension to their home. But they also had some landslides that they got worried that it would get bigger and put their house in danger. Although they already have reinforcement wall to secure the land, it needed an additional layer of it. Since they're in a luxury development project it it's like they're on their own. The government didn't really bother. So they took matters into their own hands. They were given permits based on that to construct reinforcement wall that is deep enough it reaches the rock part of the mountain. Having an extra yard is I guess a perk that they took to at least get some one those money they have spent. That's just to see some of the reasons for these narrative. But yea, the government have made money out of these luxury developments and they're left by themselves while getting taxed heavily on property. If they really care about safety, the government would be spending to add reinforcements here and to assert their property line. The line became blurry when these people are paying taxes and get no help at all.
Monetary fines are not effective to deter the rich. Increase the duration and chances of jail terms would help deter.
shaming is still a thing in asia. loosing face is bad bad bad
For a little over half a year I hired myself out as code enforcement to a Dutch municipality. We got our input from satelite and aerial photos compared by AI. All changes get flagged, you can then examine those. The chance of detection of illegal additions is basically 100%.
Land grabs were the easiest cases really: Restore within 6 weeks, otherwise enforcement fines that are roughly a month's median wage worth, being charged per week to a maximum of a median yearly wage. (and if that doesn't work, an updated higher fine is imposed).
Then they whine and moan a bit, sometimes when the local circumstances allow we can sell them the land for 150-200% of the value, but most of them give up after 1-2 fines have hit.
We won all cases. All of them.
There is reason why the structural design has to go through strict screening. These illegal structures will cost lives.
Here in Germany normal residents have to tear down buildings for the most ridiculous reasons. Of course if you are rich, your risk of being exposed is similar low….
1:18 curious if anyone knows did these homes survive and were able to rebuild or they were determined to be too unsafe now? How do you even fix something like that.
Those extensions arent that big , thats just a little bit land which is not used so they make a garden or a backyard.
Aaaaand, is this ok to you ? Wao
In Some EUropean countries the Gove.regularly uses drones to search for illegal house extensions, illegal swimming pools and even small garden shades and that might sound drastic but it s just fairness to all as everyone is required to apply and fet a permit for each such additional structures. It is also linked to amount of taxes to be pay yearly to the Gov and local authorities.
All I can say is: Its gross that you call yourself rich and yet you steal land from the government.
These properties should be seized.
"man i hope im rich one day so I can live in the worst looking 10 million dollar house anyone has ever seen"
The Housing Authority does not know why they did the illegal extension(?) 1) land is expensive and the ext is a freebie because the authorities deliberately overlooked the situation due to possible, nepotism, family friend, business friend, etc. 2) the local mindset is to push as long as no one complains..
look at the price of the property and the condition of it
they look surprisingly run-down. also why are there no people or cars moving about? it seems like those neighbourhoods are deserted
Politicians and Government has their fingers in the pie
Well, if the Chief Executive decides to act, someone would would talk to him during some private parties and ask if there are anything the CE can do to slow down
These houses doesnt even look nice….
They can't be sued since they most likely went with a company that took care of it.
These companies take care of paper documents too so the owners can put all blame on them.
Always put a middle man that can take the blame since the owners can also sue the company and get money back.
didn't hong kong's own top government officials get busted for the same thing?
The govt needs to pass new laws quickly or use the current law to persecute just one owner. Then fined them really heavily and send them to jail. The rest of the owners will likely fall in place.
The public or some rich people should fund the NGOs generously so they can gather even more evidence. I have seen videos on TV of NGOs that bring the public out on a yacht to where these seaside buildings and educate them on these violations.
That’s how wealth disparity is widened in HK. Professionals are let loose because of their professional status in HK
the worst part is some people wait years just to get public housing
it's like the "High end informal settlers" perse
Government land! 😂 thats funny
Sue them
If the semi-autonomous Hong Kong authority doesn't do anything then maybe the Central Government of China needs to step in. That will put a real scare into these entitled rich people.
SCMP is always so interesting. always creative and heart touching.
goverment should charge/sent them a bill for using the land.
personally it would be better to just add a % of tax on the additional lands. e.g land A increased by 120% = owner pay 20% of the house's price + interest.
getting rid of already developed land doesn't really benefit the locals, though this is something primarily to shift people's attention away from the stock market crisis+ Messi Game.
same problem in germany. Especially in my own hometown, there are certain neighbours who have way bigger land because they have friends in the goverment
Thank you for exposing these illegal and outrageous behaviors of these Hong Kong wealthy citizens.
gotta shift people's attention away from stock market somehow =/ and there is also the Messi soccer game =/
Jailing a celebrity's using scandal is no longer enough
Normal mentality for Chinese culture . It exists everywhere . Poor ppl push out their balcony , riches push out their garden .
All the same.
Hmm, would say there are other much more important issues to deal with in this country!
The government constantly talks about being underfunded and low on budget. Well here's your buffet. Just go out and force all of these homes to pay huge million dollar fines, both as penalty, and as well as for assessing if the structures are safe, then give them a choice to keep those structures and make them legal by paying additional millions, (if deemed safe).