【明報專訊】THE government has long been criticised for its lax regulation of "Small Houses", which is fraught with loopholes. As government policies lack clarity, which has led to the existence of "villages without borders", small houses have been encroaching on their surrounding regions. This is a problem that has newly come to light. It is stipulated by the government that the building of a small house has to satisfy two conditions concerning the land. It must be built within the boundaries of a village, and the land must have been designated for the use of "Village Type Development" (V Zone). But at the same time, the government also allows small houses to be built in villages without boundaries, which account for more than 10 per cent of all villages, as long as the land in question is in a V Zone. It is the government's responsibility to delineate village boundaries - there is no reason for dawdling. The government must close such loopholes as soon as possible to prevent "borderless villages" from continuing to expand.