Latest news with #HousingAuthority
Arabian Business
a day ago
- Business
- Arabian Business
Abu Dhabi hands out $1.3bn housing benefits ahead of Eid Al Adha
Abu Dhabi has approved AED4.62bn ($1.26bn) in housing benefits ahead of Eid Al Adha. Under the directives of President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in his capacity as Ruler of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, approved a housing benefits package worth AED4.62bn ($1.26bn), benefiting 3,052 Emirati citizens across the emirate. The approved housing benefits package includes: Housing loans amounting to AED4.4bn ($1.2bn) benefiting 2,862 citizens Exemptions from housing loan repayments totalling AED212m ($58m) benefiting 190 citizens, limited-income retirees and beneficiaries of deceased citizens Abu Dhabi housing benefits The disbursement of the second housing package of 2025 comes ahead of Eid Al Adha and reflects the leadership's ongoing commitment to comprehensive development, enhancing the wellbeing and stability of Emirati families, empowering them to actively contribute to the nation's progress, in line with UAE Year of Community objectives aimed at strengthening social cohesion and reinforcing community solidarity. This package brings the total housing benefits delivered to citizens in the emirate in 2025 to AED11.38bn ($3.1bn). Mohamed Ali Al Shorafa, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Housing Authority, said: 'The new housing benefits package reflects the leadership's commitment to empowering citizens through the provision of quality housing that promotes family stability and elevates quality of life. 'On this occasion, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and to H.H. Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, for their enduring support to advance the housing sector and foster a thriving and cohesive society.' Hamad Hareb Al Muhairi, Director-General of Abu Dhabi Housing Authority, said: 'The second housing package of 2025 highlights the depth of our leadership's strategic vision to build a prosperous future, enhancing quality of life and providing sustainable housing solutions that meet Emirati citizens' needs and aspirations. 'The generous support from President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and H.H. Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, reaffirms the leadership's steadfast commitment to fostering social and family stability and ensuring a fulfilling life for Emirati families.'
HKFP
23-05-2025
- Business
- HKFP
Hong Kong construction firm mulls appeal after licence stripped over safety record
A Hong Kong construction company involved in a fatal crane collapse is considering appealing the government's decision to strip its licence, as the Housing Authority warns that the deregistration would set back public housing queue times. According to a statement on Thursday, the Buildings Department (BD) 'has refused the application for registration renewal of Aggressive Construction Company Limited (ACCL).' ACCL was involved in three accidents resulting in five fatalities, including the 2022 crane collapse on Anderson Road in Sau Mau Ping that killed three workers. In July 2020, a construction worker died after he was electrocuted, while in October 2023, a worker fell to his death at a construction site, the BD also said in the statement. The department also cited the governing body for construction companies' licences, the Contractors Registration Committee, saying it was not satisfied that ACCL's representatives were 'competent and capable in site supervision and safety management.' The BD issued a letter notifying ACCL would be removed from the register on June 20, barring it from carrying out any building works from that date onwards. ACCL is the main contractor for six projects, three of which are public housing projects – in Tuen Mun, Tung Chung, and Sham Shui Po. The other three are a new government complex in Chai Wan, a subsidised sale housing project on Anderson Road operated by the Hong Kong Housing Society – the city's second-largest public housing provider, and a student and staff dormitory project of the University of Hong Kong. 'It is believed that the relevant owners will expeditiously and properly handle and hand over the outstanding works with the original contractor and appoint another suitable registered contractor to continue with the relevant works as soon as possible,' the BD said in its statement. Appeal In a Chinese-language statement on Thursday, ACCL said that it 'regretted' the government's decision to reject its licence renewal, adding that it was seeking legal advice to study whether it would launch an appeal against its deregistration. 'Since the Anderson Road accident, our company has comprehensively reviewed its work processes, requiring the team to strictly comply with safety standards, enhance the safety awareness of site workers, and reduce potential risks,' it said. 'Over the past two years, independent professional audits have confirmed that our site safety has greatly improved.' ACCL said that it was 'worried' its deregistration would delay the completion of more than 7,000 subsidised housing units and increase construction costs by HK$1 billion, also affecting the livelihoods of 'thousands' of workers. The Housing Authority, the city's main public housing provider, told local media that it was 'inevitable' the construction delays for the Tuen Mun and Tung Chung projects would set back overall queue times for public rental housing, though the Anderson Road project would not be significantly affected. In the lead-up to the June deregistration date, the government will take enhanced measures to strengthen site supervision at ACCL's construction sites, including surprise inspections, the BD said. During a press conference on Thursday, Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn said the authorities understood that the move to refuse ACCL's renewal would have an impact on existing construction works. 'But the BD, as the regulatory authority, is required to process registration renewal applications rigorously and professionally in accordance with the [Buildings Ordinance],' she said. She added that individuals linked to the construction company would soon be taken to court in July and January.
San Francisco Chronicle
22-05-2025
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
S.F. public housing leader leaves after stabilizing troubled agency
San Francisco Assessor-Record Joaquin Torres is stepping down from his position as president of the Housing Authority Commission, a 12-year tenure during which the long-troubled public housing agency was expanded and reorganized. Douglas Shoemaker, the former president of Mercy Housing California, will replace Torres, Mayor Daniel Lurie said Wednesday. Lurie thanked Torres for his service on the commission and said in a statement that the number of families served by the housing authority during Torres' tenure had increased by 20% to 16,545 households. He said Shoemaker brings 'unmatched experience and a lifelong commitment to affordable housing and the families who benefit from it to the Housing Authority.' Torres' stint on the commission was unusual because department heads and elected officials rarely volunteer as commissioners. And over the last seven years, Torres has been both: he directed the Office of Economic and Workforce Development from 2018 to 2021 and has been San Francisco Assessor-Recorder since 2021. Yet Torres continued to lead an underfunded agency that houses some of the city's poorest residents in public housing from Potrero Hill to Sunnydale to Hunters Point. 'A lot of people serve on commissions just for their resume or just to say they did,' said Sam Moss, executive director of the nonprofit Mission Housing. 'Joaquin really cares and anyone who works with the housing authority knows things are much better than they were 12 years ago because of him.' Torres came to politics late — he spent more than a decade as a stage actor in New York —and credits the housing authority role with forcing him to grapple with how the government can address some of the city's most 'intractable problems.' 'Every part of who I am as a public servant is grounded in the work of the housing authority,' he said. When he joined the commission, the authority had more than $270 million of unfunded capital needs and was running a multi-year deficit. Over the next few years, he led the authority through a restructuring, with affordable housing developers taking over management of the portfolio under a 'rental assistance demonstration' program, known as RAD. RAD converted its public housing stock to Section 8 vouchers, which allowed the nonprofits to access low-income housing tax credits for the first time. More than $1 billion in tax credits were invested in rehabbing thousands of units. The program also allowed the city to increase the number of families getting Section 8 vouchers from 8,000 in 2013 to 15,000 today. Malcolm Yeung, CEO of Chinese Community Development Center., which operates some housing authority properties in Chinatown, said Torres' calm demeanor made him uniquely suited to 'overseeing a wholesale reimagining' of an agency that had long been the target of criticism and complaints. 'Rarely, if ever, did I even see Joaquin defensive,' and Yeung. Torres pushed to get families living in Chinatown SRO into Section 8 multi-bedroom apartments, decreasing the number of households with children living in cramped hotel rooms from 600 to fewer than 100, Yeung said. Still,the housing authority has not been immune to allegations of mismanagement during Torres' tenure. One of Torres' most significant decisions came in 2013, just two months after he had been appointed, when the commission fired the authority's director after a scathing federal audit. In 2018, the agency faced a $30 million deficit and had to be bailed out by the city and federal government. More recently, a fire in a vacant unit at the Potrero Hill Annex underscored widespread issues with squatters living in units slated for demolition. In addition, the city's plan to create mixed-income neighborhood by adding market-rate and affordable projects to public housing – dubbed HOPE SF — has so far failed to attract market-rate developers at the three locations where that kind of development was planned: Potrero Hill, Sunnydale and the Bayview. Public housing residents still show up at commission meetings and describe deplorable conditions in some developments including leaky pipes, mold, squatters and drug activity. Torres said his years as a stage actor prepared him for what has been his longest role. 'The lesson of that work is being able to understand what it means to stand in someone else's shoes, to be present with someone when they are talking about really undignified situations,' he said. Torres doesn't minimize the problems but says he has done his best to address them and that he is confident that the authority is on solid footing as he moves on. 'We have not found a perfect solution,' he said. 'You can't consider the mission ever accomplished when it comes to public housing.'
CBC
21-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
50-unit public housing complex in Yellowknife takes next step
Housing officials formally broke ground on a future public housing building Tuesday. The building, set to go up on empty lots on 50th Street between the Raven Pub and the Gold Range Bistro, is expected to bring 50 public housing units to Yellowknife's downtown area by fall of 2026. It's expected to include 25 barrier-free bachelor suites for single people and seniors, and 25 two-bedroom units for small families. It'll also provide office space for Housing N.W.T.'s North Slave district office and the Yellowknife Housing Authority. At a ceremony Tuesday, Housing Minister Lucy Kuptana described the project as "the beginning of new opportunities, new stability and a new hope" for people in Yellowknife who need homes. "We know that housing is one of the most pressing challenges facing the Northwest Territories," Kuptana said, noting the current housing waitlist through the Yellowknife Housing Authority has more than 300 families on it. "We also know that when people [have a] safe, affordable place to call home, everything else becomes more possible." The project, originally announced in 2023 by then-prime minister Justin Trudeau, comes at a cost of $20.8 million, funded through the federal government's rapid housing initiative. The land, worth $825,000, was provided by the City of Yellowknife, and the territorial government is expected to subsidize operating costs. The city issued a development permit for the building's construction last October. At the time, it said foundation work would begin in the spring. In a news release Tuesday, the territorial government said "substantial construction work" is set to begin shortly on the building. It also pointed to plans for sustainable design, including biomass heating and mass timber construction — light, load-bearing wood that's engineered for high strength.
South China Morning Post
14-05-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Wait time for Hong Kong public rental flat still at 5.3 years, but applications plummet
The average waiting time for a Hong Kong public rental flat has remained at 5.3 years as of the first quarter of this year while there has been a significant drop in application numbers, which authorities have attributed to the new supply and higher turnover of homes in the city. Advertisement The city's largest public housing provider, the Housing Authority, also revealed on Wednesday that about 4,700 general applicants – families or elderly households – were allocated homes between January and March. Among them, a total of 2,300 households were allocated new flats in Hin Fat Estate in Tuen Mun and Pak Tin Estate in Sham Shui Po, while the remaining families were housed in refurbished homes recovered from tenants, including those who surrendered their properties after purchasing subsidised flats or who were evicted due to tenancy abuse. As of March, the city had about 116,400 general applicants for public rental homes, marking a 26 per cent drop from the peak of 156,400 cases in September 2020. 'Following the gradual completion of new public housing projects and the Housing Department's enhanced effectiveness in combating tenancy abuse, coupled with intakes of [subsidised sale flat projects], a number of public rental housing tenants vacated their flats as a result of the purchase of subsidised sale flats,' the authority said. Advertisement '[It] expedited the turnover of public rental flats [and] the number of general applicants has therefore decreased.'
