Government responds to Ombudsman’s direct investigation report on private man-made slopes
There are about 61 000 man-made slopes in Hong Kong, of which about 16 000 are private man-made slopes, and over 6 000 are slopes with mixed maintenance responsibilities (i.e., slopes managed by both the Government and private owners for their respective portions). As noted by the Ombudsman in the report, regular inspection and maintenance of private man-made slopes are the responsibility of the owners, while the Government primarily implements slope management work through three departments. First, the LandsD is responsible for determining maintenance responsibilities. Second, the CEDD conducts safety screening and identifies dangerous slopes. Third, the BD takes enforcement actions to rectify hazards, including issuing Dangerous Hillside Orders for dangerous slopes or executing default works on behalf of owners.
The three departments have taken proactive steps over the past period to execute concrete measures and have so far addressed most of the improvement recommendations in the report. The follow-up actions on the Ombudsman’s major recommendations include:
Clarifying maintenance responsibility early and informing owners proactively
To enable private owners to fulfil their slope maintenance responsibilities as early as possible, the LandsD has implemented various measures to expedite processes, including streamlining determination procedures, enhancing communication and information sharing with relevant departments, setting target processing time for cases of varying complexity, and strengthening the monitoring on consultancy firms. Since the second half of 2025, the determination of maintenance responsibility for man-made slopes newly formed or modified could generally be completed within six months, demonstrating a significant improvement in efficiency. In addition to uploading determination results to the Slope Maintenance Responsibility Information System, the LandsD will notify private owners concerned promptly. For cases already been determined, the LandsD will issue notification letters to private owners concerned by batches, with the first batch expected to be issued by phases starting from the second half of the year.
Enhancing safety screening studies and strengthening owner education and support
Starting from 2025, the CEDD is progressively increasing the number of safety screening studies for private slopes from 100 to 130 per year over a three-year period. The department will also launch the Smart Slope Catalogue within this year. This catalogue integrates records of preventive works, maintenance, rainfall, and landslides, and applies Artificial Intelligence for big data analysis to select slopes for safety screening studies with higher precision. Furthermore, the department will step up public education and technical support for owners. For example, for slopes that are not classified as dangerous after screening studies but show signs of inadequate maintenance, the CEDD will issue advisory letters to owners as appropriate, pointing out specific issues and providing advisory services, including necessary maintenance recommendations, to embody the management philosophy of prevention first.
Accelerating the issuance of repair orders and follow-up on compliance
For cases that are clear in nature and relatively simple, the BD has shortened the target time for issuing repair orders to three months. If a slope is found to pose an imminent danger, the BD will immediately arrange for government contractors to carry out emergency works. To assist owners in complying with repair orders, after issuing a repair order, the BD will proactively arrange site inspections with owners to provide explanations, attend owners’ meetings to offer technical advice, and introduce financial support schemes such as the Building Safety Loan Scheme. These measures ensure that case follow-up would not be a one-way punitive process, but rather a comprehensive approach combining guidance and assistance. For cases where compliance is overdue, the Department has, since the end of last year, used its departmental information system to automatically generate reminder and warning letters, thereby enhancing enforcement efficiency. The BD has also streamlined its prosecution procedures, with internal guidelines clearly stipulating the criteria for further prosecution and target processing time. The Development Bureau has also proposed amendments to the Buildings Ordinance to increase penalties for non-compliance, and plans to submit a bill to the Legislative Council for consideration by the end of this year.
Enhancing mechanism for effective handling of complex cases
The BD has established various committees to monitor the progress of outstanding repair orders and default works carried out on behalf of owners, as well as the performance of consultancy firms and government contractors. The BD is currently exploring ways to optimise the Building Condition Information System to enable classification of complex cases through the system, with progress monitored via regular meetings and various committees. Staff have also been reminded to deploy social worker teams in a timely manner to assist owners in need. The BD will continue to work with the CEDD and LandsD to establish a regular mechanism for information sharing and follow-up, and will discuss follow-up actions at co-ordination meetings. Furthermore, the BD will compile a list of frequently encountered issues and difficulties in complex cases to enhance communication with industry practitioners and improve the efficiency of the approval process.
Accelerating the completion of default works
For cases of non-compliance with no substantive progress, the BD will, while taking prosecution action, arrange default works for slopes with immediate safety risks. Through proactive intervention by the BD, the number of default works cases has significantly increased from 22 in 2023 to 40 in 2024 and 66 in 2025. Over the past five years, default works have been completed for more than 150 repair orders, with full cost recovery from the owners.
Streamlining permission applications for works on government land
For cases where the BD has to enter a government land to carry out default works on private man-made slopes, the LandsD has streamlined procedures by granting the Simplified Temporary Government Land Allocation to the BD by way of block approval, eliminating the need to submit individual applications for each default works project, so that the default works could be carried out as early as possible. Between May 2025 and March 2026, 18 default works projects were accelerated under this measure.
The LandsD is also liaising with the BD to optimise the handling procedures for owners and their appointed professionals to enter government land to carry out works. The LandsD plans to introduce new arrangements, such as providing the application form and guidelines to owners at the time when they have been issued with a Dangerous Hillside Order, so that the repair works on private slopes can be commenced as soon as possible.
Strengthening inter-departmental collaboration
The LandsD has joined the high-level working group and regular meeting mechanisms previously established by the CEDD and BD to strengthen tripartite collaboration, swiftly resolve complex cases and disputes over rights and responsibilities, and ensure that essential slope repairs or emergency works are not delayed by such disputes. The LandsD established a new inter-departmental online platform in December 2025, enabling departments to exchange views in real-time on the content of determination reports after these being uploaded by consultancy firms, thereby enhancing overall operational efficiency. The departments will also continue to co-operate with the property management industry. Apart from encouraging property management companies to help owners co-ordinate slope maintenance and comply with Dangerous Hillside Orders, they will organise briefing sessions on technical guidelines, seminars, and exhibitions to strengthen public education and professional support.
The LandsD, CEDD, and BD will continuously review the operation of the entire private man-made slope safety management system, from maintenance responsibility determination to risk screening, and then to enforcement and rectification, strengthening inter-departmental collaboration to elevate the safety level of private man-made slopes and safeguard public safety.
Issued at HKT 21:39
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