2022/23 was a watershed year as we see Hong Kong resuming to normalcy after the three-year-long pandemic isolation. Despite the headwinds brought by the macro environment, our economy is seeing visible recovery and growth in early 2023. The Housing Society is honoured to have walked with our city and the public on the path of recovery and sustainable development.
Having been the “housing lab” of Hong Kong for 75 years, the Housing Society is committed to developing various housing solutions to address housing needs of people of Hong Kong. We are attaching more importance to creating liveable communities for sustainable living of multi-generations, especially when we have emerged from the shadow of the pandemic. To achieve such vision, we strive to implement a comprehensive sustainability strategy, and have established the Sustainability Working Group (“SWG”) during the reporting year. Under the pillars “Sustainable Homes”, “Low Carbon Transformation” and “Future-fit Capabilities”, SWG unites all fronts at the corporate level and deploys resources for creating a more cohesive approach to sustainability.
Environmentally speaking, the Housing Society supports the Government’s goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 as stated in the Climate Action Plan 2050. We have taken steps to incorporate environmental considerations and building technologies in the housing development and property management operations to reduce our carbon footprint, as well as to mitigate the impacts brought by climate change. As at 31 March 2023, a total of 19 developments were certified by the BEAM Society Limited (“BEAM”) or the Hong Kong Green Building Council’s BEAM Plus for benchmarking their overall environmental performance.
Moreover, by adopting green building principles when managing our housing projects’ building life cycle, and incorporating advanced technologies such as Modular Integrated Construction (“MiC”) and Building Information Modelling (“BIM”), the Housing Society has enhanced the efficiency and productivity of construction projects. Take our Hung Shui Kiu/Ha Tsuen New Development Area Phase IA project as an example, by using over 1,200 MiC modules from 13 unique types, the time needed for superstructure work was reduced from 28 months to approximately 24 months. In recognition of its contribution in promoting and implementing MiC, this project received the “Outstanding MiC Project” award from the Construction Industry Council.
While enhancing building quality and capacity is an ongoing journey, “Safety First” has always been a cornerstone in our project execution. In June 2022, the Housing Society signed with nine contractor partners the “HKHS Safety Charter for Construction Projects”. By this joint effort, we pledged to maintain a safe and healthy work environment when implementing our housing projects. Our goal is to ensure that our projects are completed on time and within budget, while also creating a mutually beneficial outcome for all parties involved.
In response to the societal needs, the Housing Society continues to explore possibilities in intergenerational living, and provide housing solutions to meet the needs arisen from challenges brought by the ageing population in Hong Kong. Over the years, we have introduced various housing options for the elderly, including Elderly Persons’ Flat for low-income groups, the Senior Citizen Residences Scheme for middle-income individuals, and the non-subsidised quality housing project, The Tanner Hill, for the more well-off elderly, so as to enable the elderly from various socio-economic backgrounds to age in place and enjoy a quality life in their senior years.
During the fifth wave of COVID-19 in 2022, the Housing Society’s Caring, Engaging and Smart (CES) Team spared no efforts in attending to the needs of our tenants. Apart from distributing anti-epidemic and emergency food packs, the CES Team assisted tenants in need to apply for the Housing Society Neighbourhood Fight COVID-19 Fund. Separately, we offered rental concessions to our residential and commercial tenants with an aim to help them tide over the difficult times. During the reporting year, more than 400 eligible commercial tenants benefited from a rent waiver of up to 75 per cent. We believe that these much-needed lifelines supported the wellbeing of our tenants.
2023 is also a special year for the Housing Society as entering its diamond jubilee. With a view to connecting with stakeholders and spreading positivity, we are organising a wide range of celebrative activities under the theme of “Creating Homes for Sustainable Living”. We launched the Shopping Promotion Campaign in early 2023, which shared the joy with our tenants and colleagues and supported local economy. We also launched the “Art in Estates” Visual Arts Programme beautifying the open spaces with environmentally-friendly concept in our rental estates with a view to connecting the neighbourhoods with art enjoyments. A Community ESG programme is organised for 2023 to encourage our residents and our stakeholders to develop a sustainable and healthy lifestyle by rewarding green actions on a mobile app with incentives offered.
Following our guiding principles, we uphold “talent” as one of our core values and are committed to fostering a pleasant workplace for our employees and building a caring culture. A brand-new employee wellness programme “Fun@Work | Pride@HKHS” has been launched to promote employees’ wellness in body, mind, and spirit. During the year, we provide resource to organise a range of in-person and virtual educational offerings for our staff covering technical knowledge, job skills, individual effectiveness, and management development.
As we enter the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the Housing Society, we continue to fulfill our promise to serve the city and our people. We are dedicated to strengthening our bond with our partners, creating a sustainable future for the generations to come, and offering housing options to build a more resilient community.