Urban Renewal Authority 2018-19 Annual Report

9 CHAIRMAN’S STATEMENT Proposing a toast together with URA Board members at the annual Spring Dinner. Following the allocation of its flats at the Kai Tak Development as Subsidised Sale Flats in 2015, the URA further assigned 450 units of its redevelopment project at Ma Tau Wai Road as a “Starter Homes” Pilot Project in 2018 to support the Government’s new initiative on housing. The flats were sold at 62% of market value to first-time home buyers as a measure to satisfy public demand for affordable housing. Meanwhile, the study on the redevelopment of Civil Servants’ Co-operative Building Society Scheme has already identified two candidate sites where the scale of projects should offer the possibility of high-density development for the provision of more housing supply, including the possible appropriation of part of the redevelopment as subsidised sale flats. Another URA initiative in response to the government’s policy of increasing transitional housing is our support for the Community Housing Movement, led by the Hong Kong Council of Social Service. Some of the rehousing flats and renovated units acquired by the URA have been appropriated to the Community Housing Movement as transitional accommodation to meet the short-term housing needs of people and underprivileged families to alleviate their pressing problems of poor and over-crowded living conditions. Drawing on the experience from the implementation of Operation Building Bright 2.0 and the Fire Safety Improvement Works Subsidy Scheme, the URA is again partnering with the government to launch the Lift Modernisation Subsidy Scheme in which subsidies and professional assistance will be provided to property owners of old buildings. The URA will facilitate them to expedite the organisation and implementation of improvement works to the lifts, thus raising the safety level of buildings and enhancing the living environment. The work of the URA has yielded fruitful results and successes in the past six years. I am sincerely grateful for the unwavering support from members of the URA Board, offering invaluable advice and recognition to the work of URA. Through active participation in brainstorming sessions and meetings, they brought profound insights on the development of the URA. Their participation in our community education activities has contributed much in fostering strong connection with the public and its goodwill. I would like to express my appreciation for everyone at the URA for their dedication to helping our organisation go from strength to strength and to outdo their best in scaling new heights. Urban renewal resembles a marathon in that it is a long-term commitment that requires patience and perseverance to race against time in tackling the staggering rate of building ageing. I wish the new Chairman, Mr Chow Chung-kong, and the new URA Board every success in leading the URA team to conquer this daunting task. I trust that, building on the past, the new leadership will take URA to go further and to continue to achieve even better results in urban renewal. Victor SO Hing-woh , SBS, JP Chairman 31 July 2019