Hong Kong government says no plan to review village house policy after court ruling
The Hong Kong government told lawmakers it has no plan to review the New Territories small house (ding) policy, citing a 2021 Court of Final Appeal ruling. As of June 2026, 41,453 completion certificates had been issued, and 15,612 applications to lift resale restrictions were approved.
HONG KONG — The government told the Legislative Council on 7 October that it has no plan to review the New Territories small house policy, commonly known as the ding house policy, after the Court of Final Appeal confirmed its constitutionality in 2021.
In a written reply to lawmaker Nitson Lin, the government said the policy, introduced in 1972, allows male indigenous villagers aged 18 or older whose paternal lineage traces back to recognised New Territories villages in 1898 to apply once in a lifetime to build a small house on suitable land within their home village.
As of the end of June 2026, the Lands Department had issued 41,453 completion certificates for small houses, the government said. During the same period, it approved 15,612 applications to lift resale restrictions, which require payment of a land premium. The department does not maintain statistics on the number of houses freely tradeable on the market, the government added, because houses built on the owner's agricultural land can be sold without further approval five years after the completion certificate is issued.
On the number of houses built on “old house land” — land classified as house land under the Block Government Leases issued in the early 1900s — the government said the Lands Department does not keep figures. It also does not track strata-title subdivisions, as owners can register such subdivisions at the Land Registry without notifying the Lands Department.
The government said the Court of Final Appeal's 2021 ruling in a judicial review confirmed that all elements of the small house policy — free building licences, private treaty grants and land exchanges — fall within the lawful traditional rights of indigenous villagers under Article 40 of the Basic Law. “Considering the policy's historical background, its implementation over many years and the court's confirmation of its legality and constitutionality, we currently have no plan to review it,” the government said.
However, the government said it is promoting urban-rural integration in the Northern Territories (North District) development through measures including activating heritage village buildings, establishing village cultural trails, improving village infrastructure and launching a HK$200 million Urban-Rural Integration Fund next year. A pilot scheme also allows whole exempted buildings in selected areas to be converted into restaurants, shops or hostels.