New Strategy on Building Rehabilitation

The URA embarked on the study for the New Strategy for Building Rehabilitation in 2017 for the purpose of:

        (1) understanding the views of owners of old buildings and the difficulties they encountered in building maintenance via the surveys;  and

        (2) exploring support measures that could better motivate them to carry out rehabilitation work. 

The study was completed in 2020. The result showed that owners of old buildings usually faced three main challenges that hindered their willingness to organise repair and maintenance works on their own: insufficient knowledge of building rehabilitation, lack of financial reserves, and lack of organisational capabilities.

In response to these findings, the URA has formulated specific strategies targeting the public and relevant stakeholders to step up promotional efforts and offer incentives. The aim is to encourage owners to carry out building maintenance and management on their own, while also raising their awareness of preventive maintenance.

At the public level, covering the owners of many differently-aged buildings, the URA developed targeted rehabilitation proposals in respect of the buildings’ ages and conditions. For owners of old buildings in poor condition, the URA will motivate them to organise repair and maintenance works as soon as possible, in addition to encouraging them to apply for various rehabilitation subsidy schemes covering different parts of the building. Through this approach, it is hoped to enhance their buildings’ safety and liveability. For owners of some buildings at young age or buildings with owners’ corporations and property management companies and without imminent repair needs, the URA will promote preventive maintenance and relevant support, such as assisting owners to formulate regular maintenance proposals and prepare cost estimates in order to motivate them to save up for building maintenance.

Meanwhile, the URA will also reach out to target stakeholders including government departments, professional institutes, the property management industry and other sectors related to building maintenance, and seek collaboration in their respective professional areas. Promotional activities such as joint training with property management agencies will be conducted to enhance practitioners’ knowledge and expertise in preventive building maintenance, with a view to effectively assisting the owners of different-aged buildings to conduct repair and maintenance works.