Heung Yee Kuk Welcomes Ding Rights Ruling

The Heung Yee Kuk on Wednesday welcomed a Court of Appeal ruling restoring the full rights of male indigenous villagers to build their own three-storey homes under the Small House Policy.

The chairman of the rural body, Kenneth Lau, said the government should now resume processing applications from villagers to build houses through private treaties and land exchange agreements as soon as possible.

"The government should continue to fulfil its constitutional duty and safeguard the traditional rights of indigenous villagers in a practical manner. This can keep the rural communities in the New Territories harmonious and stable," he told a press conference.

Lau said even before the matter went to court, officials would give many reasons for delays in the processing, such as complications with the applications or complaints.

He said it used to take three to eight years to build a small house, and he even knew of a case where a man waited so long that he had died before his application was approved.

Lau reignited calls for the government to relax the rules for building the ding houses, saying he thinks it's suitable to increase the density by three to five times.

He said there should be new ideas in allowing people to develop indigenous villages, allowing for houses to be taller than the existing three-storey limit.

"Can we use the land near the border to build these houses, so that they can connect better to [other parts of] the Greater Bay Area? People don't always need to go to Central or Kowloon for work or studies," Lau said.

Meanwhile, the Development Bureau said the government welcomed the ruling.

A spokesman said the government will study the court judgement, and then resume handling villagers' applications to build houses via the Private Treaty Grant or land exchange agreements.