Following is a question by the Hon Ip Kin-yuen and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, in the Legislative Council today (April 12):
 
Question
 
     At present, some educational organizations and social welfare organizations rent premises in housing estates under the Tenant Purchase Scheme (TPS) for operating schools and service units respectively.  Some persons in charge of these organizations have complained to me that the Owners' Corporations (OCs) of the relevant estates and the property management companies (PMCs) appointed by the OCs have repeatedly been creating difficulties for them, including hindering volunteers from paying visits to the service units, requiring those organizations to purchase insurance for using the basketball courts in the estates, prohibiting schools located at the ground level from opening their windows and installing closed-circuit television systems on the outer walls, and forbidding elderly members of the service units to rest under the sun in the basketball courts in the estates.  All these have seriously affected the normal operation of the schools and service units as well as the daily activities of their members.  In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) of a list of TPS estates with premises currently leased to educational organizations and social welfare organizations and the PMCs of these estates, together with the respective percentages of ownership shares currently held by the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) in the aggregate ownership shares of these TPS estates;
 
(2) as the authorities indicated in May last year that all TPS estates had formed their own OCs and appointed their own PMCs to undertake the management and maintenance works of their estates, but I have learnt that some facilities (e.g. covered playgrounds) in TPS estates are still under HA's management, of the role currently played by HA in the management of TPS estates; whether any TPS estate is still under the management of HA at present; if so, of the number of such estates; whether HA, being one of the owners of TPS estates, will step up its monitoring of the management of these estates, so as to ensure that owners and tenants of these estates have equal opportunities to use the resources of the estates; if so, of the details;
 
(3) of the respective numbers of schools and service units currently operating in TPS estates;
 
(4) of the number of complaints received by the authorities in the past five years from schools and service units in TPS estates against the OCs or PMCs concerned; and
 
(5) of the measures put in place to prevent OCs of TPS estates or the PMCs appointed by them from creating various difficulties for the schools and service units operating in their estates, so as to ensure the normal operation of the latter?

Reply:
 
President,
 
     Below is my consolidated reply to the various parts of the Hon Ip Kin-yuen's question about the Tenants Purchase Scheme (TPS) under the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA).
 
     Tenants of the 39 TPS estates under HA can opt to purchase the flats in which they are living at a discounted price.  Owners' Corporations (OCs), which have been formed in all TPS estates, have taken over the management responsibility of the estates and appointed their own property management companies (PMCs) to undertake the relevant management and maintenance works. 
 
     Since the management of TPS estates has been taken over by OCs, there is no difference between these estates and other private properties in terms of estate management, regardless of the percentage of ownership shares held by HA.  In other words, these estates are subject to the restrictions under the Building Management Ordinance (BMO), Government leases and Deeds of Mutual Covenant (DMCs).  OCs or PMCs appointed will, pursuant to the provisions of DMCs and BMO, convene meetings of management committees (MCs) or OCs' general meetings to discuss and resolve daily management matters and proceed with implementation.  Also, MCs will handle and decide on matters in relation to the overall management of the estates according to the relevant legislation, Government leases and DMCs.
 
     HA, as one of the owners of the TPS estates, appoints representatives from the Housing Department (HD) to participate in the work of OCs.  It has been the practice of HA not to dominate estate matters of TPS estates in order to encourage owners' active participation in estate management and promote their autonomy.  HD representatives would, as far as possible, maintain a neutral stance in the voting for routine management matters at OCs' general meetings and MCs' meetings so as to allow other owners to decide on the day-to-day operation of the estates independently.  At the same time, HD representatives would encourage owners to act in the overall interests of the estates, adhere to the principle of safeguarding all owners' interests, and manage the estates in a proper manner.  Furthermore, OCs and PMCs are advised to maintain good communication with stakeholders concerned with a view to maintaining a harmonious community and ensuring the quality and effectiveness of the estate management work.  Certainly, HD representatives will appropriately exercise HA's right of being an owner in handling matters involving far-reaching implications on the general interests of all owners (including HA).
 
     Regarding the information about TPS estates as enquired under the question, among the 39 TPS estates, 38 of them have educational or social welfare facilities, including 63 educational organisations (EOs) and 331 social welfare organisations (SWOs), providing a variety of community services.  Information regarding such EOs and SWOs, PMCs appointed by OCs, as well as the percentage of ownership shares held by HA is at Annex.  Upon receiving complaints from EOs or SWOs against PMCs or OCs of TPS estates, HA will refer such complaints to the OCs concerned.  Such complaints will then be followed up and handled according to the mechanism mentioned above.  HA does not maintain statistics about these referral cases.
     
     HA still owns certain facilities, such as ball courts and open spaces, in some TPS estates.  However, the management and use of these facilities must be in compliance with relevant provisions of DMCs of individual estates.  HA will liaise with the OCs concerned about such matters on the basis of the DMCs and the actual circumstances of individual estates.  Hence, there may be different arrangements in different estates.

Ends/Wednesday, April 12, 2017
Issued at HKT 14:18

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