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The following is issued on behalf of the Housing Authority:
In 2012/13, the Housing Authority (HA) will focus its efforts on providing quality homes, promoting sustainable living, optimising and rationalising the use of public resources and enhancing the attractiveness of its commercial properties.
At its regular open meeting today (January 19), the HA members endorsed the Corporate Plan for 2012/13, which sets out the above four main themes covering a total of 41 key activities and 15 key performance indicators of the Authority's work for the year.
"In the forthcoming year, we will continue to closely monitor the demand for public rental housing and will adjust the rolling production programme as appropriate to ensure an adequate supply of flats to keep the average waiting time for general waiting list applicants at around three years. We will also continue to work out the implementation details of the new Home Ownership Scheme, and to proceed with the planning and design works of the relevant developments," said a spokesman for the HA.
Moreover, the HA will focus on encouraging mutual care and support in the community, assisting those who are in financial hardship and making cost-effective use of resources.
Apart from endorsing the 2012/13 Corporate Plan, members also approved the 2011/12 revised budget and the 2012/13 proposed budget, and noted the financial forecasts for 2013/14 to 2015/16.
The HA will continue to manage its finance in a prudent manner to ensure cost-effectiveness in achieving its policy objectives. On fund management, the HA will review its strategies in a timely manner to ensure that it will have sufficient financial resources to meet its expenditure and obtain a reasonable return from its investments over the long term.
The HA spokesman said that while the HA remained in a healthy financial position in the short to medium term, and had sufficient financial resources to implement the public housing programme, the HA would remain vigilant and mindful of the uncertain economic outlook and the various challenges ahead, and would closely monitor changes in investment return and construction costs in particular.
Ends/Thursday, January 19, 2012
Issued at HKT 17:43
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