Press Releases
Year 2019
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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
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30 Apr 2019
Tender awarded for development of URA’s Hang On Street Redevelopment Project
The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) today (Tuesday) announced that the contract for the development of Hang On Street Redevelopment Project (the Project) in Kwun Tong has been awarded to Gainplace Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lai Sun Development Company Limited. The tender amount offered by Gainplace Limited is HK$883 million, which is the highest among the tender submissions received by the URA for this project. The URA earlier invited 37 property developers to submit tenders for the Project following an expression of interest exercise. The URA received a total of 18 tenders from these 37 property developers when the submission of tender closed on 10 April 2019. After careful deliberation, the URA Board considered that the tender offer made by Gainplace Limited has met the
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12 Apr 2019
URA and TWGHs’ 2nd Young Leaders Programme nurtures future leaders to promote urban renewal through creativity
The 2nd Young Leaders Programme jointly organised by the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) and the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals (TWGHs) for TWGHs’ secondary school students has concluded with success. Students from six participating schools have adopted the insights they gained from the Programme to initiate creative proposals in promoting urban renewal, enhancing living environment of old districts while strengthening local characteristics. The 10-month Young Leaders Programme was kicked off in June last year. The URA organised a series of activities including workshops, tours and school talks in order to develop the young people’s skills in leadership, interpersonal communication, problem-solving and project management while encouraging them to make concerted efforts in promoting urban re
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12 Apr 2019
URA welcomes appointments to the URA Board
The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) today (Friday) welcomes the Government's appointment of the Honourable Chow Chung-kong as the Chairman of the URA Board for a term of three years, effective 1 May 2019, as well as the other new appointments and re-appointments to the URA Board. Commenting on the appointment, Mr Chow said, "I feel privileged to be appointed Chairman of the URA. The URA is an important institution charged with the responsibility to improve the standard of housing and the built environment of Hong Kong through urban regeneration. I look forward to working with fellow members of the Board, URA colleagues and our many stakeholders in the community to enhance the quality of living, particularly for those in older districts of Hong Kong.” The URA also expresses its gr
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10 Apr 2019
18 tenders received for development of URA’s Hang On Street Redevelopment Project
The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) received a total of 18 tenders for the Hang On Street Redevelopment Project (the Project) in Kwun Tong when the invitation for submission of tender closed today (Wednesday). A tender review panel (TRP) under the URA Board will consider the tenders received and make recommendation to the URA Board for its decision on the award of the development of the Project. The URA earlier invited interested developers to submit Expressions of Interest for the Project. After careful consideration of the Expressions of Interest received, the TRP invited 37 property developers to submit tender. The Project, which covers a site area of 789.7 square metres, was commenced on 7 November 2014 under the third round of the URA’s Demand-led Redevelopment Projects (Pilot
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27 Mar 2019
Lift Modernisation Subsidy Scheme opens for application starting from 29 March
The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Development Bureau for the launch of the Lift Modernisation Subsidy Scheme (LIMSS). The first round of application for the LIMSS will start this Friday (29 March 2019) and close on 31 July 2019. The Chief Executive announced in the 2018 Policy Address the launching of a $2.5-billion LIMSS to facilitate building owners to expedite lift modernisation with a view to enhancing the safety level of aged lifts and further safeguarding public safety. Making reference to the on-going “Operation Building Bright 2.0 Scheme” and “Fire Safety Improvement Works Subsidy Scheme”, the Government and the URA encourage building owners in need to expedite planning and launching of lift modernisation works through
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14 Mar 2019
Random assignment of priority numbers completed URA to vet applications for “Starter Homes” Pilot Project in late March
The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) today (Thursday) conducted a random assignment of priority numbers (random assignment) for its “Starter Homes” (SH) Pilot Project, named “eResidence”. All 20,878 applications were randomly assigned a priority number. The random assignment was jointly officiated by the Chairman of the Kowloon City District Council, Mr Pun Kwok-wah, and the Director (Property & Land) of URA, Mr Bruchi Nam Chi-kwong. A total of ten numbers were each drawn by Mr. Pun and Mr. Nam to form a ten-digit seed number which was input into a computer programme for randomly assignment of priority numbers to applicants. The entire process was witnessed by Mr Libra Fung of Lui & Mak Certified Public Accountants. The list of assigned priority numbers has been uploaded to the eReside
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13 Mar 2019
URA to conduct random assignment of priority numbers for “Starter Homes” Pilot Project on 14 March
The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) will conduct a random assignment of priority numbers (random assignment) tomorrow (Thursday) for a total of 20,878 applications for its “Starter Homes” (SH) Pilot Project, named “eResidence”. The list of assigned priority numbers will be uploaded to the eResidence’s website (www.eresidence.hk) later on the same day, where a search function is available to enable applicants to check their assigned priority number by entering their application number. Having considered the views of the Hong Kong Housing Society, the URA has developed a computer programme with rigorous formulae to randomly assign a priority number to each applicant on an equal and fair basis. The random assignment programme and the procedure have been audited by professional independent