Page 47 - Urban Renewal Authority 2023-24 Annual Report

Building Rehabilitation Subsidy Schemes Chairman’s Statement
Since 2018, the Government has allocated significant funding to subsidise eligible owners to carry out inspection
and repair for the common parts of old buildings. The URA has been entrusted by the Government to manage
such subsidies, including Operation Building Bright 2.0 (OBB 2.0), Building Drainage System Repair Subsidy
Scheme (DRS), Fire Safety Improvement Works Subsidy Scheme (FSWS) and Lift Modernisation Subsidy Scheme
(LIMSS) among other schemes. Being the sole organisation to manage a public rehabilitation fund involving
HK$19 billion, the URA is responsible for promoting the subsidy schemes to attract applicants, verifying their
eligibility, monitoring their application, tender and work progress, and providing technical support, in addition to Managing Director’s Statement
calculating and releasing subsidy funds to applicants who have completed the rehabilitation works.

Riding on the success of the first and second rounds of OBB 2.0 and FSWS, and estimating that there are still
funds available, upon the liaison with the government, URA launched the third round of applications from
April to September 2023, receiving good responses with about 1,600 applications for each scheme. Initial
eligibility checks and prioritisation assessment for the third round were completed in December 2023. Upon
the endorsement of the priority list by the two Steering Committees, notification letters were released to all
eligible owners in the first quarter of 2024. Approvals-in-principle (AIPs) were released progressively for eligible
applicants in May 2024. Operating Review

Various support measures have been
introduced to expedite the inspection and
repair works for the third round of OBB 2.0
applicants. Apart from equipping building
owners with pre-qualified lists of consultants
and contractors for inviting tenders, the
URA takes the initiative to invite consultancy
tenders on behalf of the owners if owners fail
to meet particular pre-defined milestones. Corporate Sustainability
In addition, the URA provides guidelines for
tender assessments and sets up progress
milestones according to the scale of the Scheme Objectives
applicants’ buildings to assist them in
proceeding with the rehabilitation works.

The URA also provides and manages its own 1 To promote a new culture of preventive maintenance
among owners
subsidy schemes to supplement the Government
schemes and cover rehabilitation work items
that fall outside the scope of the Government
programmes. Launched on 1 April 2024, the To encourage periodic maintenance of buildings to
Preventive Maintenance Subsidy Scheme 2 upkeep their conditions and slow down deterioration Management Discussion and Analysis
(PMSS) aims to incentivise building owners
to prepare a building maintenance manual,
which includes a maintenance schedule
for the next 10 years alongside a financial To motivate owners to establish periodic
reserve for related expenses. Promotion 3 maintenance plans and financial reserves for related
letters were sent to OCs of recently repaired repair expenses
buildings and related stakeholders. Eligible
applications will be assessed and prioritised
quarterly with AIPs issued to the successful
applicants.
As the works of building inspection and common drainage system maintenance have been covered by OBB 2.0, Projects at a Glance
the URA ceased to accept new applications for the Mandatory Building Subsidy Scheme (MBISS) and Building
Drainage System Repair Subsidy Scheme (DRS) in the past year to avoid duplication of efforts.

URA ANNUAL REPORT 2023-24 45 Corporate Governance