Scorced earth policy for renovations in DB

HKR and DB Management intend to rip it up and pave it over, whatever the effect on occupants of Beach Village.

I never agreed to THIS in my lease!

I just signed a new lease last year, but I never agreed to having my balcony and hallway ripped up and losing the view from the balcony for 4 months. No body mentioned this renovation; the agents, the landlord or DB Management. I moved into this new place, the scaffolding went up, and here we are.

Getting back to the money: 4 months, that's 2/3rds of a year, and my rent is @ HK$30,000 per month or HK$360,000 per year.

What is the cost of what I have lost?

If we calculate that these renovations result in a 20% reduction of useage and enjoyment of my flat, then the basic cost to me is HK$24,000.

That's almost a month's rent. I'll ask my landlord for that much off next month's rent.

About us

We are long term residents of DB, with many of us having been here since the early 90's. Some of us are owners, some are tenants. None of us are "absent owners". That is, we all live in DB, specifically Beach Village.

We know HK and DB well, and have lived through many "interesting times" here in DB, HK and China.

When we make a comment about HKR or how DB is run, we will tell the truth as we have experienced it. We may get a date or two wrong, but we are close.

For instance, most of us have lived through these massive renovations before, and have direct experience with how they have effected our homes. The last great exterior renovation on Headland Village resulted in OVER 30 break-ins, most of which were done at night WHILE THE RESIDENTS SLEPT!

(Note: if you are new to Hong Kong, then you need to know about the social phenomena of cat burglary here in HK: Often illegal immigrant Mainlanders, or recent migrants, these guys are tough, desperate, and reckless, and they shimmy up the external drain pipes and ledges and regularly break into apartments here using nothing more than a screw driver. However, once inside, they arm themselves with your kitchen knives or hammers, and will often attack the residents if they wake up. Usually they tie you up and rob you, but worse has happened.

Many expats (including the former Canadian Consular General, who almost had his finger cut off) have experienced being threatened and assaulted in their homes in the middle of the night by HK cat burglars. These guys think nothing of climbing 20 stories or more, so the low-rises of Beach Village are a "walk in the park" for them.

Scaffolding like we have now is a open invitation to the opportunist burglar. And, as one of our posts explains, after the renovation job is over, it is often the former workers themselves who return to DB to break in and steal. This is what happened during and after Headland's external renovations, when there were also a lot of workers coming into DB for the Siena construction.