Latest news with #UrbanRenewalAuthority
South China Morning Post
6 days ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong's URA may review compensation cuts for residents affected by redevelopment
Hong Kong's cash-strapped Urban Renewal Authority (URA) may review its policy to reduce compensation to residents affected by redevelopments, its new chief has said, as the organisation faces rising financial challenges. URA managing director Donald Choi Wun-hing said on Friday in his first meeting with the media that it was an appropriate time to review the current compensation package. Residential flat owners receive the cash equivalent of the market price of a comparable seven-year-old flat in the same district under the current arrangement. 'We have room to discuss and review the compensation arrangement,' Choi said, adding that there should be flexibility for adjustments. He cited offering cross-district resettlement with new land granted by the government in Tseung Kwan O as one of the examples. The government last month made a rare move of granting the URA two land parcels in Hung Hom and Tseung Kwan O to provide extra financial help for its projects, under the conditions that the authority had to undertake urban redevelopment in a financially sustainable manner, 'irrespective of market ups and downs'.
South China Morning Post
29-06-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Urban renewal must be able to function in good times and bad
Giving old districts and buildings a new lease of life is never easy in a city like Hong Kong, where conservation and development are not always compatible. The job has become even more difficult as the Urban Renewal Authority struggles to finance its projects amid a sluggish property market. Thankfully, the statutory body has been handed a lifeline by the government, with the grant of two land parcels to help consolidate its finances. But an overhaul of its operation and financing is still needed to ensure redevelopment projects will be sustainable regardless of market conditions in future. The two sites in Hung Hom and Tseung Kwan O had an estimated value of HK$4.2 billion as of February this year and HK$9 billion as of December last year, respectively, according to the Development Bureau. The authority has been asked to make good use of the land to enhance financing and borrowing capacity, and to reprioritise its yet-to-commence projects. To what extent the land can restore the authority's fiscal health remains to be seen. Evidently, the money from the land sales will not last forever. With the local property market and business environment still facing pressure because of high interest rates and uncertainties over US-China trade negotiations, the authority's financing problems are likely to prevail for some time. The government is therefore right in initiating a review of the authority's operating and financing model to ensure it can undertake urban redevelopment irrespective of market ups and downs. This is also a good opportunity to explore ways to enhance building rehabilitation so as to extend the service life of aged blocks and reduce the immediate need for redevelopment. The authority suffered a deficit of HK$3.5 billion in 2022-23, the first in almost a decade. The shortfall crept up further to HK$3.9 billion the following year, including an operational deficit of HK$830 million and a HK$3.1 billion provision for projects already started that may be devalued. It has risen to the challenge by tapping overseas funding and issuing bonds for the first time in many years, securing a HK$13 billion bank loan in January and issuing bonds, including HK$12 billion in senior bonds.
South China Morning Post
23-06-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
New law required to cover building repairs in Hong Kong
A parting gift from the retiring chief of the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) deserves to be fully explored as a possible way to defuse structural defects that have been compared to 'bombs' lurking in many of Hong Kong's ageing buildings. In an official blog post on his final day as managing director, Wai Chi-sing announced the body was researching legislation to require landlords to form periodic maintenance plans for their blocks and ensure sufficient funds for such work. On June 14, Wai wrote that the URA would also look into creating a new statutory body to supervise building restorations and maintenance. For years, there have been calls for authorities to improve maintenance and inspections. The Buildings Department was criticised in a 2020 Audit Commission report for slow progress in checking old buildings. The pandemic only made things worse and the risks have grown ever more unacceptable. One recent example was in February, when a 79-year-old man was injured by concrete falling from a block of flats in the Causeway Bay shopping district. Building owners failed to follow up on a mandatory building and window inspection notice from 2020. Threats of fines and jail time alone are apparently not enough. Wai's proposal stresses the importance of preventive maintenance by owners, as well as for the authority to act as a 'facilitator'. The move wants landlords to create 'periodic maintenance and repair plans'. New laws or amended regulations would also require them to come up with arrangements for budgeting and contributions to maintenance funds to 'encourage landlords to more actively fulfil their responsibilities'. As Donald Choi Wun-hing becomes head of the URA, the authority faces major challenges. The Buildings Department estimates the number of private buildings aged 50 years or older will rise from 8,700 in 2020 to about 13,900 by 2030. In recent years, building owners have all too often been unaware or unwilling to take advantage of the URA's voluntary assistance schemes. A new approach could lead to laws that are effective by focusing less on punishment and more on requiring owners to participate and plan in a way that ensures buildings remain safe.
South China Morning Post
14-06-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong to explore need for new law covering building repairs by landlords
Hong Kong's Urban Renewal Authority will examine whether legislation should be introduced requiring landlords to create periodic maintenance plans for their blocks and ensure sufficient funds for the work. The study would also cover the possibility of creating a new statutory body to supervise building restoration and maintenance, according to the authority's retiring head, Wai Chi-sing. Wai stressed the importance of 'preventive maintenance' by homeowners while also pledging the authority would play a 'facilitator's' role to study ways to extend the lifespan of buildings. He outlined the ideas in a blog entry published on the authority's website on his final day as the authority's managing director on Saturday. Wai said the authority would embark on a study for the New Strategy for Building Rehabilitation 2.0 this year, following the completion of the previous one in 2020. 'Specifically, we will explore whether to require landlords to formulate periodic maintenance and repair plans for their buildings, and to formulate arrangements for budgeting and contributions to maintenance funds through making laws or amending relevant regulations related to building maintenance,' Wai wrote.
South China Morning Post
06-06-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong approves land grants to beleaguered Urban Renewal Authority in rare move
The Hong Kong government has granted two parcels of urban land to the cash-strapped Urban Renewal Authority in a rare move to offer additional financial support for its redevelopment projects, with a condition to review its financing model to ensure sustainability. The sites in Hung Hom and Tseung Kwan O were approved by the government's top decision-making body in principle on Friday, at a nominal premium of HK$1,000 (US$127) for 50 years. The two sites will have to be rezoned for residential use in order for the self-financing statutory authority to 'continue to take forward its commenced redevelopment projects in an orderly manner'. 'Redevelopment projects of a larger scale involve huge acquisition costs. Coupled with the sluggish property market in recent years, the URA's projects have been subject to the 'buy-high-sell-low' situation, thus affecting its cash flow,' Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn Hon-ho said in the government announcement. 'Granting land at a nominal land premium has long been one of the major government support measures for the URA … Granting the two sites to the URA is along the same direction that helps the URA to fulfil its urban renewal mission.' The land grant includes several conditions. The URA must collaborate with the government to refine its operating and financing model, enabling it to undertake urban redevelopment in a financially sustainable manner, 'irrespective of market ups and downs'.
