Every cloud has a silver lining. As this saying keeps one’s faith under dark clouds, the cloud of COVID is finally lifting with the passing of 2022/23. The year is also when the Housing Society is entering its diamond jubilee. With the heritage of serving the community with innovative housing solutions since its birth, the Housing Society has held onto this mission and set the goal of “Creating Homes for Sustainable Living” for the people of Hong Kong
We have been putting our belief into actions, and made quite a few achievements during the year, contributing to boosting housing supply, promoting ageing-in-place, supporting residents in need, and enhancing corporate sustainability.
With a robust building programme, our construction activities are now in full swing although there were at times disruptions of works at construction sites and in cross-boundary supply materials during the earlier part of the year. In the face of the unprecedented construction peak, we regard quality, timely delivery and safety as equally important.
As we take safety as the priority, the Housing Society is deeply saddened by the industrial accident happened at the Anderson Road Quarry Site R2-2 in September 2022. Various measures have been taken, including ten smart site safety initiatives, to reassure the best practices are in place for upholding work safety at construction sites.
Housing Plans in Actions
Against all odds, viable housing schemes were formulated to support the Government’s housing policy. The projects currently under planning or construction are making good progress, including projects of Rental Estate Redevelopment, Subsidised Sale Flats (SSF), Dedicated Rehousing Estate (DRE), and housing projects for the elderly. The housing supply from all these plans would be some 45,000 units for the coming 20 years and in the next ve years, 17,000 housing units are expected to be completed.
Redeveloping Aged Rental Estates
As part of its ongoing efforts to provide quality housing, the Housing Society has launched a comprehensive programme to redevelop its old rental estates which were built some 50 years ago with ageing infrastructure and facilities that no longer meet the needs of the residents.
During the year, demolition work for the Phase II Redevelopment of the Ming Wah Dai Ha (MWDH) commenced, after the decant of the residents. The redevelopment planning of Yue Kwong Chuen and Kwun Tong Garden Estate (KTGE) II continued, with the planning application for minor relaxation of building height at Yue Kwong Chuen approved while the planning brief for the redevelopment of KTGE in progress.
Subsidised Sale Flats
The sale of 27 rescinded units in our three SSF projects, namely Greenhill Villa in Sha Tin, Mount Verdant in Tseung Kwan O and Terrace Concerto in Tuen Mun, was successfully concluded during the year
Meanwhile, five SSF projects located at Jockey Club Road, Kai Tak Area 2B Site 1 and Anderson Road Quarry are under construction while planning application for Yuen Lung Street project was approved. All these projects will provide over 5,900 affordable units to home buyers from 2025.
Dedicated Rehousing Estates
Steady progress has been made at five DRE projects — Pak Wo Road, Kai Tak Area 1E Site 1, Hung Shui Kiu/Ha Tsuen New Development Area (NDA), Kwu Tung North NDA and Ma Tau Kok, altogether contributing to more than 10,000 units.
We are also pleased to be entrusted by the Government to redevelop three urban squatter areas at Cha Kwo Ling, Ngau Chi Wan and Chuk Yuen United Village. These three redevelopment projects will further boost housing supply, offering about 8,800 units in phases from 2028 onwards.
Housing for the Elderly
In anticipation of the housing needs brought by the ageing population, the Housing Society embarked on its Senior Citizen Residences Scheme for middle-income elderly more than 20 years ago with the support of the Government. The first two pilot projects, Jolly Place in Tseung Kwan O and Cheerful Court in Ngau Tau Kok, were launched in 2003 and 2004 respectively. During the year, the third project Blissful Place in Hung Hom, offering a total of 312 fiats, was completed. Three more projects under the Scheme in Fanling, Kwun Tong and Shau Kei Wan are in the pipeline.
The on-site show fiats of Blissful Place were open in March, and we are glad to receive overwhelming response with more than 9,500 visitors and over 870 new applications within two months.
ADVOCATING “AGEING-IN-PLACE” AND INTERGENERATIONAL SOLIDARITY
The seniors can maintain their independence, social connection and sense of well-being if they continue living in their own homes and communities as they age, therefore the Housing Society endeavours to provide various solutions to achieve “ageing-in-place”, which is a more cost-effective and sustainable option than institutional care for both individuals and society as a whole.
The Caring, Engaging and Smart (CES) Team comprised of social workers, occupational therapists and service officers is committed to facilitating mutual support among tenants. During the year, over 400 networking activities were arranged across all rental estates to foster neighbourhood support among residents, and two new programmes were launched to connect the youth and the elderly through co-creation of intergenerational play spaces and services at Jat Min Chuen to promote intergenerational solidarity.
To facilitate community collaboration, the “Living Lab in Gerontechnology for Age-Friendly Home” was established at our Elderly Resources Center during the year. It is the first and currently the only living lab in Hong Kong recognised by the European Network of Living Labs ENoLL. Our exemplary service in promoting active ageing was also recognised by the SilverEco and Ageing Well International Award 2022 during the year
Sustainability Takes Centre Stage
To ensure sustainability remains at the forefront of the Housing Society’s various operations, we have a Sustainability Working Group (SWG) at corporate level to unite all fronts and deploy resources for creating a more cohesive approach to sustainability. During the year, the SWG was formulating its initiatives under three pillars, namely, “Sustainable Homes”, “Low-carbon Transformation” and “Future-fit Capabilities” for execution in the years to come.
Incorporating smart solutions into the construction process is also pivotal to sustainable development. During the year, a viability study to expand the current digitalisation function into a full Digital Works Supervision System (DWSS) was completed. In addition to site inspection and quality monitoring function, the Housing Society’s controlled digitalisation system had been extended to cover non-conformance, defect and safety inspection monitoring. The full DWSS had been deployed to all new projects.
On the property management front, we maintain a sustainable and environmentally friendly living environment for residents. During the year, installation of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels and the renewable energy system was completed at Lok Man Sun Chuen. Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Green Building Council awarded Lai Tak Tsuen with Excellent rating for both Management Aspect and Materials & Waste Aspects, and Very Good rating for Site Aspect, in recognition of the Housing Society’s effort and commitment to providing a sustainable living environment for its residents despite the estates were built decades ago.
Financial Position
We have managed to sustain a healthy financial position with our net assets valued at HK$46.9 billion as at 31 March 2023. However, due to a challenging operating and investment environment, a net deficit of HK$1,804 million was recorded for the fiscal year. In spite of the short-term volatility, the long-term performance of our investments remained resilient and the overall returns out-performed.
TOGETHER WE WALK ALONG THE 75-YEAR JOURNEY
To celebrate the 75th anniversary, a series of fabulous programmes have been launched since early 2023 with more to unveil later this year. To ramp up the celebrations, a shopping promotion campaign to share the joy with the residents was launched in January 2023. Through the campaign, we also hope to stimulate local spending and extend our heartfelt thanks to all residents and commercial tenants, our very major stakeholders who have walked hand-in-hand with us over the decades.
The estates and offices of the Housing Society have also been dressed up for the anniversary celebration. Supported by
six artists, the “Art in Estates” Visual Arts Programme was launched across 20 rental estates to engage residents in
co-creating colourful installations with environmentally-friendly or upcycled materials, showcasing the talents of our
residents when art meets sustainability
Collaborating for Success
Assuming the role of “housing lab”, the Housing Society values innovative minds. To encourage bottom-up new ideas, a Pilot Technology Seed Fund that stimulates staff-driven innovations and technology solutions was launched in 2021. During the year, three projects were successfully incorporated into regular business operations after a one-year pilot period while another project is about to be launched.
To continue along the line of innovation requires unfailing efforts in an organisation with a 75-year history. I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to the Members of the Supervisory Board and Executive Committee for their stewardship over the past year. It has always been a great source of pride to work with such a wonderful team of colleagues whose commitment to excellence has been instrumental in achieving all the successes. With the unwavering support of the Housing Society Members and our stakeholders, the Housing Society will continue to create more affordable and quality homes for Hong Kong people of all ages.
With the fiat production peak ahead, our priority goes to the successful and smooth delivery of the committed projects. We look forward to these forthcoming accomplishments which are a testament to the promise “Creating Homes for Sustainable Living’ that everyone at the Housing Society, and the people of Hong Kong who walk hand in hand with us, all play a part in making our goals come true.
