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Following is a question by the Hon Kwok Wai-keung and a written reply by the Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Tsang Tak-sing, in the Legislative Council today (May 13):
Question:
In March this year, the authorities informed the Panel on Home Affairs of this Council of the outcome of the public consultation on the review of the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Ordinance (Cap. 349) (the Ordinance) and proposed that the Ordinance be amended to enhance the licensing regime for guesthouses and facilitate law enforcement actions against unlicensed guesthouses. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as the authorities have estimated that around 280 licensed guesthouses are currently located in buildings whose Deeds of Mutual Covenant (DMCs) contain explicit provisions prohibiting the premises concerned to be used as a hotel or guesthouse, of the name, address, number of rooms, and the remaining term of the guesthouse licence granted, in respect of each of such guesthouses;
(2) as the authorities have proposed to amend the Ordinance to empower the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Authority (the Authority) to refuse to issue or renew a licence if the DMC of the building concerned contains any explicit provision prohibiting the premises concerned to be used as a hotel or guesthouse, or for commercial purpose, whether the authorities will, apart from giving the affected guesthouse licence holders a grace period of one year, support and assist such guesthouses, which are able to obtain licences under the original less-stringent policy, in relocating elsewhere to continue to operate; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether they have assessed the situation, after the enactment of the amendments to the Ordinance, of such guesthouses closing down because they cannot be relocated elsewhere for continuous operation; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3) given that the authorities proposed in the relevant consultation paper three possible options regarding the local consultation on guesthouse licence applications, which included (i) conducting local consultation through District Officers and (ii) setting up an administrative independent panel, comprising non-official members, to make recommendations to the Authority after considering local views, and these two options received a similar level of support from respondents, whether the authorities have decided on the option to adopt; if they have, of the decision and the reasons for that; if not, the criteria based on which the authorities will decide on the option to adopt?
Reply:
President,
In response to public concerns over nuisance and inconvenience caused by guesthouses to building residents in recent years, the Home Affairs Department (HAD) completed a review on the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Ordinance (Cap. 349) (the Ordinance) in July 2014. A consultation paper was published to gauge public views extensively on a series of proposals with a view to enhancing the licensing regime for guesthouses and to stepping up the enforcement actions against unlicensed guesthouses.
Upon expiry of the public consultation period in late August 2014, the HAD had received about 1 100 written submissions. After careful collation and analysis of the submissions, we briefed the Legislative Council (the LegCo) Panel on Home Affairs on the outcome of the consultation on March 24, 2015. In view of the wide community support, we will amend the Ordinance to implement various proposals recommended in the consultation paper to enhance the licensing regime for guesthouses and facilitate enforcement actions against unlicensed guesthouses. We are now drafting the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation (Amendment) Bill (the Bill) and will introduce it to the LegCo for scrutiny as soon as possible.
My reply to Hon Kwok Wai-keung's question is as follows:
(1) Under the current licensing regime, the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Authority (the Authority) may only refuse to issue a licence on such grounds as the premises intended to be used as a hotel or guesthouse fail to comply with the requirements relating to building structure and fire safety, health and hygiene, and supervision as provided for in the Ordinance. As the Deed of Mutual Covenant (DMC) is not a ground for refusal to licence issuance under the Ordinance, we do not have copies of DMCs of the buildings where the licensed guesthouses are located in. Having examined public records kept by the Land Registry, we estimate that DMCs of buildings accommodating about 280 licensed guesthouses may contain explicit restrictive provisions against the operation of guesthouses. However, this is for general reference only because whether or not these DMCs contain such explicit restrictive provisions has to be ascertained by legal professionals.
The Office of the Licensing Authority (the OLA) under the HAD will issue written notification to the guesthouse licensees who may be affected, in order to remind and advise them to seek legal advice and make appropriate arrangements promptly. The OLA will also set up a dedicated hotline to answer the enquiries from the industry.
(2) While the DMC is not one of the licensing considerations under the current licensing regime, the OLA has clearly reminded applicants and licensees via licence application forms and relevant guidelines, notification letters for issuance of licence and other relevant documents that a guesthouse licence does not act as a waiver of their responsibilities to comply with DMC provisions. They must ensure that guesthouses to be operated or operated at the premises concerned are in compliance with DMC provisions, or else they have to bear legal liabilities and other consequences on their own.
We understand that some guesthouse operators will be affected by the new licensing requirement of taking into account DMC provisions. To allow sufficient time for current operators to adapt to the new licensing regime and make necessary arrangements (such as relocation), we propose to renew their licences once in accordance with the existing licensing requirements for a period of 12 months upon commencement of the Bill. In other words, current operators will be subject to the new licensing requirements for licence renewal one year after the Bill has come into effect. Apart from reminding affected operators through written notification to take heed of the new licensing requirements, the OLA will accord priority to processing licence applications due to relocation, and deploy dedicated case officers to render assistance for such applicants.
Given that affected guesthouses may move to locations in compliance with licensing requirements for continuous operation, we believe that the new licensing requirements will have limited impact on the industry. Whether he would relocate his guesthouses, change his operation model (such as renting out rooms on a monthly basis) or make other arrangements is solely a business decision of individual licensee.
(3) As indicated in the written responses received regarding the three options for local consultation, 42% and 43% of the respondents supported Option I and Option II respectively. As for the consultation with the 18 District Councils (DCs), majority of DC members are in favour of Option II. As pointed out by the respondents, Option II is more likely to strike a proper balance between efficiency and impartiality as compared with the two alternatives. Option II is considered better than Option I because the applicants will be given an opportunity to respond to objectors' concerns in front of an independent panel which will then make recommendations on licence issuance in a fair and objective manner. As such, we have proposed in the paper submitted to the LegCo Panel on Home Affairs to adopt Option II, under which the Authority will be empowered, in processing new or renewal licence applications, to take into account recommendations made by the independent panel after considering views submitted by residents living in the same building and the applicant's responses.
Ends/Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Issued at HKT 15:01
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