LCQ7: Home Ownership Scheme
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Question:
The Hong Kong Housing Authority (HKHA) is responsible for formulating and implementing the Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) policy. The ultimate goal of this policy is to encourage owners to form owners' corporations (OCs) in accordance with the Building Management Ordinance (Cap. 344), thereby enabling them to take over the management responsibilities of their HOS courts. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that, upon the completion of HOS courts and prior to the formation of their OCs, the HKHA serves as the manager under the Deed of Mutual Covenant (the manager) for those HOS courts and appoints qualified Property Services Agents to carry out the day-to-day management of the HOS courts, of the current number of HOS courts for which the HKHA still serves as the manager, with a breakdown by court name and number of units involved; and
(2) whether it has ascertained the reasons why the HOS courts mentioned in (1) have not yet formed OCs, thereby necessitating the HKHA's continued role as their manager; if so, of the specific details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
The Hong Kong Housing Authority (HKHA) has all along been striving to enrich the housing ladder and assist households with different affordability to achieve home ownership through the provision of various types of Subsidised Sale Flats, including those under the Home Ownership Scheme (HOS). To ensure prompt and orderly property management, the Land Grant and the Deeds of Mutual Covenant (DMC) stipulate that the HKHA will act as the initial DMC manager of the HOS courts after the date of the DMC. The HKHA shall appoint qualified Property Services Agents (PSAs) to undertake daily management matters, including security, cleaning and maintenance of common areas and facilities, whilst assisting owners in monitoring the performance of PSAs. In parallel, according to the DMC, the DMC Manager shall call a meeting of owners within nine months after the date of the DMC with a view to forming an Owners' Corporation (OC) or an Owners' Committee. Pursuant to section 3(2) of the Building Management Ordinance (Cap. 344) (the Ordinance), a resolution on the appointment of the management committee (MC) must be passed by a majority of votes of the owners (including votes cast by owners in person or by proxy (note)) and supported by the owners of not less than 30 per cent of the shares in aggregate.
In response to the question raised by the Hon Andrew Lam, our reply is as follows:
(1) As at December 31, 2025, among all of the 187 HOS courts constructed by the HKHA, 155 of them have already been taken over by their respective owners through OCs or Owners' Committees for estate management, accounting for almost 85 per cent of all HOS courts in Hong Kong. Currently, the HKHA remains the DMC manager of 32 HOS courts, around half of which had intake within the recent past five years. Among these courts, three of them have established OCs or Owners' Committees with the handover of management responsibilities underway. As for the remaining 29 courts, the relevant resolution must be passed by owners at meetings of owners in order to establish an OC. The names of the relevant HOS courts and their respective numbers of units are listed in Annex.
(2) The Ordinance provides a legal framework for the establishment and operation of OCs, enabling owners to form OCs for better management of their housing estates. In terms of management, HOS courts are no different from general private residential properties. The HKHA has been proactively providing assistance to owners of HOS courts in forming OCs, and District Offices will also provide assistance as necessary. Prior to the establishment of an OC, the HKHA as the DMC Manager, will supervise and require the PSAs to proactively engage with owners through daily exchanges to encourage interested owners to organise an OC. The HKHA also liaises with the relevant District Offices to organise seminars sharing information on forming OCs as well as building management. Moreover, the HKHA also assists owners who would like to participate in the MC to hold meetings of owners. Whether an OC can be successfully formed ultimately to take over the estate management depends on the willingness of the owners of individual courts.
As regards the courts where the establishment of an OC could not be passed at meetings of owners, the HKHA will continue to actively gauge the owners' concerns. We will also continue to promote good and effective building management practices through various channels, including organising seminars and distributing promotional materials in collaboration with District Offices, with a view to enlightening owners of the benefits of good building management and encouraging them to establish OCs. The HKHA will review the effectiveness of the implementation measures in due course and continue to arrange meetings for the formation of OCs, with the aim to promoting the establishment of OCs and enabling owners to take over the management of their estates.
Note: Unless otherwise stipulated in the DMC, each owner shall have one vote for each share of ownership they hold.
Ends/Wednesday, February 4, 2026
Issued at HKT 12:20
Issued at HKT 12:20
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