The effect of personal injuries claims as a result of mismanagement of multi‐storey buildings on property investment in Hong Kong

A personal injury claim for compensation is one of the most common kinds of litigation in Hong Kong. In recent years, a number of cases have emerged which involve accidents resulting from mismanagement of buildings and, in particular, in which the unit owners within the buildings were held liable to pay a portion of the damages. The relevant court cases, relating to domestic property, are researched, to find out the amounts of damages awarded, the effects of the compensations on individual unit owners in the relevant buildings and on their return on investment and the factors that may affect the investment. This kind of litigation is likely to grow, owing to the increase in the proportion of old buildings as a result of the downturn in the local property development market. The research results are likely to be of use to other common law countries where multi‐storey buildings are the major form of property for property investment.