Latest news with #WaiChiSing
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
13-06-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong Urban Renewal Authority eyes Middle East, Europe investors for bonds
Hong Kong's cash-strapped Urban Renewal Authority (URA) will issue another round of bonds this year and has reached out to investors in the Middle East and Europe, the body's outgoing chief has revealed. Advertisement Authority managing director Wai Chi-sing also said that two sites the government gave to the URA this month had strengthened its bargaining power in talks with investors, and that he believed there would be more similar land grants in the future. Wai, who leaves the statutory body on Saturday after serving as managing director for nine years, said the authority would issue bonds again this year and had introduced its work to investors in Europe, the Middle East and Singapore, with more trips planned to continue the outreach. 'The URA has been to Singapore and the UK to introduce our work,' he said, adding that foreign countries might not have bodies like the authority and could be unclear about its work. He said the URA had also been to the Middle East, including Doha and Dubai, but had not decided if it would issue bonds in US or Hong Kong dollars due to market fluctuations. Wai Chi-sing is retiring after nine years as managing director. Photo: Sun Yeung Wai said the funds from the bonds would be used for redevelopment projects, including the acquisition in the '5 Streets' area in To Kwa Wan.
South China Morning Post
08-06-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Better harbourfront access among Hong Kong urban renewal body's plans for site
Hong Kong's Urban Renewal Authority (URA) plans to improve pedestrian connectivity and public access to the harbourfront at one of two sites the cash-strapped body has been granted by the government to boost its finances. Authority managing director Wai Chi-sing revealed more details about the plot in To Kwa Wan in his blog on Sunday, two days after the self-financing statutory body was granted the site and another in Tseung Kwan O at a nominal land premium of HK$1,000 (US$127) for 50 years. 'The land grant represents an opportunity to enhance the connectivity and accessibility between the inland areas of To Kwa Wan and its waterfront spaces through urban renewal, injecting more vibrancy into the harbourfront through diverse development,' he said. The land grant is expected to provide extra financial help for the URA, but the body has to review its operating and financing model so that it can undertake redevelopment projects in a financially sustainable manner. It earlier said it would rezone the site on Bailey Street in To Kwa Wan, which is currently a temporary outdoor car park, for residential use. The land parcel has a proposed total gross floor area (GFA) of 68,490 square metres (737,220 sq ft) with a plot ratio of nine, indicating a high development density. A higher ratio indicates increased density. Wai observed that some road sections connecting the inland areas to the harbourfront in the neighbourhood were blocked by schools and temporary car parks.
South China Morning Post
19-05-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
11 government departments, private owners must agree for Hong Kong waterfront development
The proposed transformation of an old Hong Kong neighbourhood into a world-class waterfront in the style of Australia's Darling Harbour will require major cooperation among at least 11 government departments and agreement from private owners, officials have said. Advertisement The 798-hectare (1,972-acre) project was announced by Urban Renewal Authority managing director Wai Chi-sing on Sunday , with a study to explore developing To Kwa Wan in Kowloon and its surrounding waters into a top notch destination. 'The real challenge is the implementation, because the proposal actually involves [cooperation among] quite different departments and policy bureaus,' Harbourfront Commission chairman Ivan Ho Man-yiu said on Monday. 'It is important to reach a consensus inside the government,' he added, citing Kai Tak Sports Park, the Marine Department, Civil Engineering and Development Department, Transport Department and Environmental Protection Department. Ho said that Kai Tak Sports Park should also be considered one of the project's stakeholders, as any events at To Kwa Wan's typhoon shelter could impact the sports facility's operations. All proposed activities on the water body in the typhoon shelter, such as converting barges into floating restaurants, would have to be approved by the Marine Department, he explained.
