Page 38 - URA Annual Report 2020-21

OPERATING REVIEW
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Responding to Redevelopment Requests from Owners
Under the URS, the URA may respond to a joint approach from building owners to initiate redevelopment of their buildings. In view of this, two schemes, namely Demand-led Pilot Scheme and Facilitating Services Scheme, were introduced in 2011.
Demand-led Pilot Scheme
The Demand-led Pilot Scheme (DL Scheme) was introduced in 2011 with five rounds of application held between 2011 and 2016. As a result, 12 redevelopment projects under the DL Scheme were commenced. However, three of them were eventually terminated as they failed to meet the 80% threshold of owners’ consent. The DL Scheme was then suspended in 2017 to undergo a critical review amid the commencement of YMDS which aims to create greater planning gain and synergy under the holistic planning approach. Subsequent to the discussion on proposed improvements of DL Scheme by the Steering Committee2 of YMDS in 2019, a preliminary framework for the new Demand-led approach has been drawn, under which the implementation will be in the form of a survey system to register owners’ aspirations for various urban renewal initiatives including redevelopment, rehabilitation and retrofitting. The objective is to enable consideration of owners’ registered aspirations during the stage when strategic planning is underway for formulation of redevelopment/rehabilitation projects. Further implementation details for this new Demand-led survey system are being worked out, and will be piloted in the upcoming Preliminary Project Feasibility Studies.
Facilitating Services
Urban Redevelopment Facilitating Services Co. Ltd. (URFSL) was set up in 2011 as a subsidiary wholly-owned by the URA to facilitate interested property owners in assembling titles for joint sale in the market. Up to June 2021, a total of 43 applications for facilitating services (36 for residential buildings, three for CBS buildings and four for industrial buildings) have been received. One application was successfully processed and its property interests were sold by auction. The joint sale of property interests for seven applications (including one application from CBS buildings) was put on the market but failed to reach a successful sale. The other 34 applications (including two applications from CBS buildings) either failed to fulfil the application criteria or were terminated for failing to reach the required threshold for joint sale. Currently one application has been selected as facilitation project and is being implemented. Tenders will be invited later for the joint sale of property interests in this project.
Apart from facilitating property owners in assembling titles for joint sale in the market, URFSL also provides facilitating services to members of the CBSs affected by URA’s projects for obtaining legal titles of their flats through dissolution of their CBSs. After becoming registered owners, former owners of the CBSs will then have the capacity to sell their properties to the URA and/or to receive resumption offers from the Government. Details of two pilot CBS projects are described on page 30 of this Operating Review.
The Steering Committee is chaired by the Managing Director of the URA with representatives from concerned bureaux and departments. URA ANNUAL REPORT 2020-21