The one-year pilot scheme, which was unveiled in last year’s Policy Address, will commence as soon as June in four districts: Yau Tsim Mong, Sham Shui Po, Kowloon City and Tsuen Wan.
Under the scheme, a company that has been managing older buildings in an earlier trial will do so for clusters of aged buildings, with the minimum requirement of two, so that the so-called “three nil buildings,” which do not have owners’ corporation, property management services or resident organizations, can enjoy basic services at affordable prices.
Speaking on RTHK’s Overview Policy programme, Mak pointed out that now’s the right time to kick start the scheme.
This is because the building management professional service scheme, which aims to allow “three-nil buildings” to set up owners’ corporations with the help of NGOs, has been regularised and expanded to cover all districts in the SAR.
The government has also completed the revamp of the district councils, Mak said.
She pointed out that a property management firm will help homeowners tackle a lot of minor problems.
“If there’s an owners’ corporation, and we look for a professional property management firm through the scheme to help with building management, and deal with minor issues to prevent delays and things getting worse, homeowners can save a lot of time and money,” she said.
Meanwhile, care teams will get 50 percent more funding in their next term of service.
Mak noted that the government will review their service scope, as well as offer training to the members.
But no matter how we train them, they cannot replace professional departments to offer services, she stressed.