Press Releases
Year 2020
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6 Jan 2020
Second Round of Lift Modernisation Subsidy Scheme opens for application starting from 6 January
The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) announced that the second round of Lift Modernisation Subsidy Scheme (LIMSS) is opened for application from today (6 January 2020) to 30 June 2020. For representatives of owners organisations who are interested to apply but unable to make an application in time for the first round of application for the LIMSS can now join the second round. To promote lift modernisation and to enhance the safety level of aged lifts, the Government launched the LIMSS in 2019 in partnership with the URA to provide financial assistance and professional support to encourage building owners in need to expedite the planning and commencement of lift modernisation works. The first round of application for the LIMSS ran from 29 March 2019 to 1 Aug 2019 with applications involv
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16 Oct 2019
URA supports Government’s new initiatives on housing to meet housing needs and improve living environment
In response to the announcement made by the Chief Executive in the 2019 Policy Address today (Wednesday) on the new initiatives on housing, a spokesman of the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) said the URA welcomes the Government’s new initiatives and will render its full support. Relevant studies will be undertaken to devise the implementation framework for submission to the URA Board for deliberation and approval. Committed to pushing forward the renewal of old urban districts, the URA will secure resources for the implementation of the new housing initiatives (see Appendix) in the coming years to help meet the housing needs and improve the living environment of the people in Hong Kong. With regard to the redevelopment of buildings under the Civil Servants’ Co-operative Building Socie
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2 Aug 2019
URA issues acquisition offers to Queen’s Road West/ In Ku Lane Development Scheme
The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) today issued acquisition offers to property owners affected by the Queen’s Road West/ In Ku Lane Development Scheme (the Project) in the Central and Western District. Eligible owner-occupiers of domestic properties of the Project will be offered $24,051 per square foot of saleable area which is the unit rate of a notional replacement flat of seven years old situated in the same locality (“Notional Unit Rate”). The Notional Unit Rate was approved by the Land, Rehousing and Compensation Committee (LRCC) of the URA Board on 30 July 2019. In line with the established mechanism, the URA appointed seven independent consultancy firms by open ballot to assess the Notional Unit Rate for the Project. The whole process is transparent and open. The URA’s prev
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31 Jul 2019
Submission of first-round application for Lift Modernisation Subsidy Scheme postpones
The Lift Modernisation Subsidy Scheme (LIMSS) jointly launched by the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) and the Government is originally closing today (31 July, Wednesday) for submission of the first-round application. In view of the Tropical Cyclone Warning Signal No. 8 issued by the Hong Kong Observatory, the deadline for submission of the first-round application is postponed to 1 August (Thursday). In case the Tropical Cyclone Warning Signal No. 8 or above is still in force at 2pm tomorrow, the deadline for submission of the first-round application will be further postponed to 2 August (Friday). (ENDS)
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12 Jul 2019
URA encourages innovative ideas among young people to foster special characteristics of Central and Western District
The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) joined hands with the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (IVE) and Hong Kong Design Institute (HKDI), both under the Vocational Training Council (VTC), for the second year to co-organise the Innovative Design Competition 2018/19. The competition aims to encourage tertiary students to apply their knowledge into practice while bringing about local characters and smart-living elements to the Central and Western District through creative designs. The Final Adjudication cum Award Ceremony was held on 5 July (Friday). Having considered the rich historical characteristics of the Central and Western District, the competition this year aimed to promote the understanding of the district’s local development and living culture among tertiary students whi
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10 Jun 2019
URA publishes tender amounts of unsuccessful submissions for Hang On Street Redevelopment Project
The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) today (Monday) published on an anonymous basis the tender amounts offered by the unsuccessful but conforming tenderers in the tender for the Hang On Street Redevelopment Project (the Project) in Kwun Tong. The URA commenced the tender exercise of the Project earlier and a total of 18 tenders were received when the tender closed on 10 April 2019. After careful deliberation by the URA Board, the URA awarded the tender of the Project to Gainplace Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lai Sun Development Company Limited, on 30 April 2019. In addition to publishing the name of the successful tenderer and its holding company upon the award of the tender through a press release, the URA also disclosed at the same time the successful tender amount of HK$883 m
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5 Jun 2019
The URA welcomes the re-appointment of Wai Chi-sing as Managing Director
The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) today (Wednesday) welcomes the Government's re-appointment of Mr Wai Chi-sing as Managing Director of the URA for a term of three years with effect from 15 June 2019. The Chairman of the URA, Mr Chow Chung-kong, said: “Since taking office as Managing Director of the URA in June 2016, Mr Wai has demonstrated strong leadership and professional expertise. He has accomplished much in the past three years, especially in initiating a number of strategic studies, which will lead to forward-looking and sustainable developments of urban renewal. We at the URA Board look forward to working with Mr Wai to promote urban renewal with the objective to improve the standard of housing and built environment in Hong Kong.” Feeling honoured on his re-appointment,
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3 Jun 2019
URA to conduct selection and sale of “Starter Homes” Pilot Project units starting from 12 June 2019
The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) will conduct the selection and sale of flats for the “Starter Homes” (SH) Pilot Project, “eResidence” starting from Wednesday, 12 June 2019. Invitations for flat selection will be sent to eligible applicants by mail in batches, according to the application category and the sequence of priority number of each eligible applicant determined in the computer random assignment conducted earlier. The first batch of eligible applicants will be invited for flat selection during the period from 12 June to 18 June. In compliance with the Residential Properties (First-hand Sales) Ordinance, the URA has uploaded the information on Sales Arrangement to the website of “eResidence” (www.eresidence.hk) and the Sales of First-hand Residential Properties Electronic Platfo
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8 May 2019
URA launches one-stop Building Rehabilitation Platform to offer comprehensive information and support to building owners
The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) has launched the Building Rehabilitation Platform (“the Platform”), an all-in-one information platform, to provide professional and comprehensive information along with technical support on building rehabilitation to building owners. The Platform (https://www.brplatform.org.hk), built under the concerted efforts of the public, private and professional sectors, with the support of the Government, public institutions, professional institutes and bodies, as well as contractor associations, was launched on 25 March to officially replace the former Building Rehab Info Net. Apart from retaining the existing information on different subsidy schemes and application functions available on the former Building Rehab Info Net, the Platform has also introduced a varie
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3 May 2019
URA issues acquisition offers to Wing Kwong Street / Sung On Street project
The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) today issued acquisition offers to property owners affected by the Wing Kwong Street/Sung On Street Development Project (the Project) in Kowloon City. Eligible owner-occupiers of domestic properties of the Project will be offered $17,917 per square foot of saleable area which is the unit rate of a notional replacement flat of seven years old situated in the same locality (“Notional Unit Rate”). The Notional Unit Rate was approved by the Land, Rehousing and Compensation Committee (LRCC) of the URA Board on 30 April 2019. In line with the established mechanism, the URA appointed seven independent consultancy firms by open ballot to assess the Notional Unit Rate for the Project. The whole process is transparent and open. The URA’s prevailing acquisit