Heard around Hong Kong this month

how opulent they are, few Hong Kong properties are palatial by international standards. That is set to change when a planned 240,000 sq ft, “Versailles-like” mansion in the New Territories is complete. Mainland Chinese property developer China Evergrande is behind the new architectural behemoth, estimated to cost HK$4 billion when it eventually goes on the market. Built on former farmland near the mainland China border, the quasi-stately home will have a theatre, spa, eight bedrooms, four lifts, a swimming pool and sprawling gardens studded with water features. The average living space in Hong Kong is roughly 200 sq ft per person, meaning whoever buys “House 1” will enjoy 1,200 times more room than the norm. Leo Cheung, executive director of surveying company Pruden Holdings, says the place is likely to go to a buyer from the mainland who will “probably use it for entertaining instead of living”. Does that mean we can claim squatters’ rights there the rest of the time?