LCQ5: Revitalisation and regulation of industrial buildings

     Following is a question by the Hon Stanley Ng and a written reply by the Secretary for Development, Ms Bernadette Linn, in the Legislative Council today (February 25):
 
Question:
 
     It has been reported that some people have illegally converted industrial buildings (IBs) for non-industrial uses, arousing safety concerns. On the other hand, according to the Rating and Valuation Department's Hong Kong Property Review 2025, the vacancy for private flatted factories reached 1.13 million square metres in 2024. There are views that the Government should further revitalise IBs on the premise of safeguarding public safety to enable effective utilisation of IB spaces. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) of the number of enforcement actions taken by the Buildings Department (BD) against cases of IBs being illegally used for non-industrial uses in each of the past three years, with a tabulated breakdown by nature of cases;
 
(2) given that there is currently an assistance programme under the Community Care Fund providing relocation allowances to households of illegal residential premises who are required to move out of IBs due to the BD's enforcement actions, of the number of households assisted by the programme and the amount of allowances involved in each of the past three years (set out in a table);
 
(3) of the number of prosecutions instituted by the Hong Kong Fire Services Department against IBs with fire safety irregularities in each of the past three years, with a tabulated breakdown by specific irregularities (e.g. ineffective fire extinguishers or unauthorised alterations to fire service equipment);
 
(4) whether the Government will step up enforcement efforts against illegal alterations and fire safety irregularities in IBs, such as increasing inspection frequency and offering financial rewards for reporting; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
 
(5) given that under the existing revitalisation scheme for IBs, individual units may be converted to five specific non-industrial uses designated by the Government (i.e. (i) Art Studio, (ii) Office (Design and Media Production), (iii) Office (Audio-visual Recording Studio), (iv) Office (used by "specified creative industries"), as well as (v) Research, Design and Development Centre) without the need to apply for a waiver, of the respective numbers of IB units currently used for these specific non-industrial uses (set out in a table);
 
(6) of the number of applications approved under the revitalisation scheme for IBs in the past three years, with a breakdown by post-revitalisation use; and
 
(7) given that in the reply to a question from a Member of this Council on July 3, 2024, the Government indicated that in view of safety considerations, the relaxed uses for IBs do not include public performances, but there are views that the Government could consider allowing IBs to be converted into exhibition and performance venues subject to audience size restrictions, whether the Government will consider the above suggestion; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
 
Reply:
 
President:
 
     To address the decline in demand for industrial floor space resulting from economic transformation, the Government has introduced multiple policy measures in the past to encourage the effective use of the floor space of industrial buildings (IBs) without compromising public safety. First of all, in respect of rezoning some of the industrial land, the Planning Department (PlanD) has rezoned more than 300 hectares of industrial land for other uses such as business and residential uses in the past 20 some years, unleashing the development potential of industrial land in urban areas and accelerating the transformation of old industrial zones. In addition, the Government launched two rounds of Revitalisation Scheme for Industrial Buildings (Revitalisation Scheme) in 2010 and 2018 respectively. The 2010 Revitalisation Scheme focused on encouraging wholesale conversion, during which the Government approved approximately 110 applications for wholesale conversion and 14 redevelopment projects. The 2018 Revitalisation Scheme focused on promoting redevelopment instead; as at end-January 2026, the Town Planning Board (TPB) has approved 95 applications (involving 71 sites) for redevelopment, and the Government has approved five applications for wholesale conversion. Additionally, for IBs with fragmented ownership and yet to have plan to undergo redevelopment or wholesale conversion, the Government has since 2018 allowed individual units of these IBs to be used for the five non-industrial uses as mentioned in part (5) of the question. Having balanced factors such as public safety and optimisation of IB floor space, the coexistence of industrial and non-industrial uses may be allowed at discretion. Looking ahead, the Development Bureau (DEVB) is conducting a new round of Study on the Review of Existing Industrial Stock with the PlanD and the Lands Department (LandsD), and will put forward recommendations this year, including the way forward for the Revitalisation Scheme, so as to further optimise the use of the floor space of IBs under the premise of not compromising the public safety.
 
     In respect of the various parts of the question, having consulted the Security Bureau, my reply is as follows:
 
(1) The Buildings Department (BD) has adopted a risk-based approach in determining the priority of enforcement action. Addressing the unauthorised use of IBs for non-industrial purposes is one of the BD's key enforcement priorities. Regarding illegal domestic use in IBs, the BD takes enforcement action through large-scale operations (LSOs) and by acting on public reports. If illegal domestic premises in IBs are identified, the BD would issue statutory orders to the owners under the Buildings Ordinance (BO) (Cap. 123), requiring the cessation of illegal domestic use and rectification of the dangerous situations. If the statutory order is not complied with within the specified period, the BD would initiate prosecution against the owner. In the past three years, the number of cases handled by the BD under LSOs and in response to public reports are tabulated below:
 
Year 2023 2024 2025
Number of IB premises inspected (Note 1) 624 459 (Note 4) 645
Number of premises found with illegal domestic use (Note 1, 2 and 3) 70 22 (Note 4) 40
Number of statutory orders issued to the premises involving illegal domestic use (Note 2 and 5) 174 48 (Note 4) 124
Number of prosecutions initiated for failure to comply with statutory orders (number of IB premises involved) (Note 5 and 6) 17 (6) 5 (3) 4 (3)
Note 1: Number of IB premises refers to the number of premises shown on the original approved building plans.
Note 2: The figures do not necessarily correspond to the IB premises inspected in the same year.
Note 3: Except for illegal domestic use, the BD does not maintain a breakdown of cases involving other non-industrial use.
Note 4: As fewer public reports were received in 2024, the numbers of relevant inspections and enforcement actions also decreased accordingly.
Note 5: Including orders issued under section 25(2) of the BO to prohibit such use or require the owner or occupier to discontinue such use of the building; orders issued under section 26(1) of the BO to require the owner to render the building safe; and/or orders issued under section 24(1) of the BO to order the owner to remove the unauthorised building works.
Note 6: The figures do not necessarily correspond to the number of statutory orders issued in the same year.
 
(2) The Programme of "Relocation Allowance for Residents of Illegal Domestic Premises in Industrial Buildings who Have to Move out as a result of the Buildings Department's Enforcement Action" (Programme) under the Community Care Fund provides one-off relocation allowance on a compassionate basis for low-income occupants who are affected by enforcement actions and meet the household income limit and other criteria. As at 2025, the BD has approved 208 applications, benefitting 333 persons. Statistics on the applications for the Programme in the past three years are tabulated below:
 
Year 2023 2024 2025
Number of applications received (Note 7) 12 0 0
Number of applications approved (Note 7) 12 0 0
Allowance granted ($) 79,050 0 0
Note 7: The numbers of applications received and approved do not necessarily correspond to the illegal domestic premises in IBs issued with statutory orders in the same year.
 
(3) The Fire Services Department (FSD) currently regulates the fire safety of IBs mainly in accordance with the Fire Services Ordinance (Cap. 95) and its related subsidiary legislation, and the Fire Safety (Industrial Buildings) Ordinance (Cap. 636). The Fire Services Ordinance primarily deals with violations relating to fire hazard and fire service installations or equipment (such as obstructed or locked means of escape, defective smoke stop doors and fire service installations being damaged or not in efficient working order). The Fire Safety (Industrial Buildings) Ordinance empowers the FSD to issue Fire Safety Directions to owners and occupiers, requesting them to enhance or install specific fire service equipment, including an automatic sprinkler system, a fire hydrant and hose reel system and a manual fire alarm system.
 
     The numbers of prosecutions instituted by the FSD against IBs' non-compliance with the Fire Services Ordinance and its subsidiary legislation and the Fire Safety (Industrial Buildings) Ordinance over the past three years are tabulated as follows:
 
Irregularities Number of prosecutions instituted
2023 2024 2025
The Fire Services Ordinance and its subsidiary legislation:
Offence relating to fire hazard and fire service installations or equipment		 323 253 231
The Fire Safety (Industrial Buildings) Ordinance:
Non-compliance with Fire Safety Directions issued by the FSD		 0 (Note 8) 76 102
Sub-total 323 329 333
Note 8: The Fire Safety (Industrial Buildings) Ordinance came into effect on June 19, 2020. The FSD has been prioritising the issuance of Fire Safety Directions to target IBs based on a "risk-based" principle. Owners may apply for an extension of the deadline for compliance with the Directions according to the actual work progress and difficulties encountered. On the aforesaid premise, there was no case meeting the prosecution threshold in 2023. 

(4) The BD will continue to strengthen enforcement actions against illegal domestic use in IBs through LSOs and by acting on public reports. The DEVB is currently reviewing the BO, and will propose, amongst others, to tighten up enforcement against relevant situations, increase penalties for non-compliance with statutory orders, and introduce a new offence to empower the Building Authority to directly prosecute cases of illegal domestic use in IBs upon discovery, thereby enhancing deterrence. The target is to introduce the amendment bill to the Legislative Council for scrutiny in the second half of this year.
 
     The FSD attaches great importance to the fire safety of IBs. In addition to promptly attending the scene to investigate and follow up on receipt of reports and intelligence, it also proactively conducts regular inspections and takes resolute enforcement actions against irregularities. Taking fire hazards as an example, the FSD in general issues Fire Hazard Abatement Notices, requiring rectification within a specified period. Failure to comply with the deadline will result in prosecution. For serious cases (such as obstructed or locked means of escape), prosecution may be instituted directly. In 2025, the FSD conducted a total of approximately 9 300 inspections of IBs, issued around 1 300 Fire Hazard Abatement Notices, and instituted 333 prosecutions.
      
     Apart from the regular inspection programme, the FSD conducts surprise and targeted inspections and enforcement actions based on a risk-based principle, taking into account the use of buildings, past records of non-compliance, complaints, intelligence, and more. Joint operations with other departments are also undertaken as necessary. For instance, the FSD and the BD conducted a joint inspection and enforcement operation targeting IBs from December 29 to 31, 2025, inspecting nine IBs located in Kowloon and the New Territories. During the operation, fire personnel took immediate enforcement action against the persons-in-charge of the buildings concerned for irregularities, including issuing 22 Fire Hazard Abatement Notices and instituting three prosecutions directly. The BD identified 13 subdivided units suspected of being used illegally for domestic purposes, and further investigations are underway. If it is confirmed that the units in question have been used for illegal domestic purposes, the BD will take enforcement action under the BO, including ordering the cessation of illegal domestic use and rectification of the dangerous situations.
 
     The FSD has made available convenient channels for reporting, including a 24-hour complaint hotline at 2723 8787 and the Fire Hazard Electronic Complaint Portal, encouraging members of the public to provide specific clues such as locations, time, photos and short videos. In addition, the FSD has recently introduced the Building Emergency Responders Scheme which provides fire safety training to property management personnel, representatives of owners' corporations and residents. The aim is to assist them in identifying potential fire hazards, participating in inspections, and reporting risks to the FSD or property management companies, thereby enhancing prevention and reporting effectiveness. As for the proposed "financial rewards for reporting", the FSD currently has no plan to introduce such an initiative, given that monetary incentives may increase false reports and create moral hazards.
 
(5) For IBs with fragmented ownership and yet to have plan to undergo redevelopment or wholesale conversion, under the premise of not compromising public safety and provided that the uses are the uses always permitted for the site as specified in the Outline Zoning Plan, the prevailing policy allows the owner to use individual units of the IBs for "Art Studio", "Office (Design and Media Production)", "Office (Audio-visual Recording Studio)", "Office (used by "specific creative industries" including design and media production companies, printing and publishing, film companies and industry organisations related to the film industry)", as well as "Research, Design and Development Centre", without having to apply for a short-term waiver from the LandsD and pay any fees. Since the owners do not need to apply for a short-term waiver for using the individual units of the IBs for the aforesaid specific non-industrial uses, the Government does not have statistics on the individual units of the IBs used for the aforesaid specific non-industrial uses.
 
(6) The Government reactivated the Revitalisation Scheme in 2018. In respect of redevelopment of IBs, the prevailing policy allows relaxation of the maximum permitted non-domestic plot ratio up to 20 per cent to provide incentives to private owners to redevelop IBs constructed before 1987. In the past three years (from February 2023 to end-January 2026), excluding the application withdrawn by applicant, the TPB received a total of seven applications (involving seven sites) for relaxation of plot ratio for redevelopment of IBs, among which all applications were approved. Among the seven approved planning applications, three of them have applications made to the LandsD for lease modification, among which one case was withdrawn by the applicant and the remaining two cases are under processing (one of the applications is currently under land premium assessment). As for the remaining four cases among the aforesaid seven approved planning applications, the LandsD has yet to receive relevant application for lease modification. In addition, there were six cases in which lease modification and redevelopment works have been completed in the same period, all of them are for non-residential uses. For wholesale conversion of IBs aged 15 years or above in zones such as "Commercial" or "Industrial" zones, waiver fees could be exempted. If the concerned IB was constructed in or after 1987, not less than 10 per cent of the converted floor space must be used for purposes designated by the Government, such uses include arts and culture or innovation and technology. In the past three years (from February 2023 to end-January 2026), the LandsD did not receive any application for wholesale conversion of IBs. In the same period, there were two cases in which conversion works have been completed, and the permitted non-industrial uses include commercial, offices, retail and food and beverage facilities.
 
(7) For IBs with fragmented ownership and yet to have plan to undergo redevelopment or wholesale conversion, considering that the other units could still be used for industrial purposes and in view of public safety, the five non-industrial uses mentioned in part (5) above for which individual units of the IBs are allowed to be used, do not include any uses or activities that directly provide services or goods to attract public visits (including public performance and exhibition). The consideration is primarily based on the fact that such members of the public (regardless of their number) may only visit the concerned IB occasionally and are unfamiliar with its layout, including the escape routes. As mentioned above, the DEVB is conducting a new round of Study on the Review of Existing Industrial Stock with the PlanD and the LandsD, and will consider the views from the Member and the market when putting forward recommendations this year, including the way forward for the Revitalisation Scheme.
 
Ends/Wednesday, February 25, 2026
Issued at HKT 20:15
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