090611 - Initiative to repair rundown buildings receives big response from owners

Initiative to repair rundown buildings receives big response from owners

The government's initiative to repair dilapidated residential buildings has received an overwhelming response from building owners. About 1,100 buildings with owners' corporations have applied to take part in Operation Building Bright, more than double the places available, Secretary for Development Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said yesterday. Under the scheme - launched in March - the government will spend HK$1 billion to renovate 1,000 residential buildings that are more than 30 years old - 500 structures with owners' corporations and 500 of those without. At the close of applications yesterday, the Development Bureau had received about 1,100 applications from buildings with owners' corporations, with applications from Yau Tsim Mong district topping the list at 27 per cent of the total, followed by those from Sham Shui Po district at 12 per cent. "Obviously our supply cannot meet the demand," Mrs Lam said. She urged lawmakers to approve an additional HK$1 billion for the programme, a sum the government is seeking as part of handouts announced last month, and which is tabled for Legislative Council discussion next month. The extra billion dollars is expected to benefit a further 1,000 buildings and create 10,000 more jobs. Mrs Lam said the sum should be enough to meet demand. Work will start in the autumn at the soonest. The district councils have nominated 500 buildings without owners' corporations for the scheme. Some of the 500 are among 226 blocks that will receive the subsidy, because they have already been earmarked for repairs by the Buildings Department. Yau Tsim Mong district councillor Hui Tak-leung urged the government to set up a central system to appoint contractors for the repair work to prevent corruption. Funds made available through the scheme will be used to repair common areas related to structural safety and sanitation, including concrete, external walls, windows, vent pipes and underground drainage. The owner of each unit of a building taking part in the scheme can receive - without going through asset or income means testing - a grant amounting to 80 per cent of the repair cost, subject to a ceiling of HK$16,000. Buildings in urban areas with an average rateable value exceeding HK$100,000 a year, and those in other areas with the value exceeding HK$76,000, are not eligible for the programme.