Onus on the owner: Secretary for Housing, Planning & Lands Michael Suen says the community feels that owners are responsible for the proper upkeep of their buildings.

Mandatory requirements should be enforced on property owners to ensure their buildings are properly managed and maintained.

Secretary for Housing, Planning & Lands Michael Suen said this is the feeling of the general public, as found by the consultation on building management and maintenance.

Announcing the study results today, Mr Suen said the community feels that owners are responsible for the proper upkeep of their buildings, and believed that assistance to owners who are in genuine need, such as the elderly, should be enhanced.

The Government received 131 written submissions during the three-month consultation, which found the public feels that mandatory building inspection is a practicable and effective long-term solution to decay.

"We need to come up with a proper solution to the problem in the medium to long run. As to long-term measures, guided by public preference concerning the broad future direction, we are working towards a second stage consultation to be launched this year, focusing on the feasibility of introducing mandatory building inspection and other support measures," Mr Suen said.

"We believe that through mandatory building inspection, owners will eventually be aware that good management is essential for buildings, thus achieving the policy direction of integrating building management and maintenance in the long run."

Tribunal mooted

Mr Suen said the Government is exploring the feasibility of setting up a Building Affairs Tribunal.

"However, as the proposal involves a number of complex policy and legal issues, the Government is further examining the issues involved with the Institute of Surveyors."

He said there is extensive support for the Government to provide financial assistance to elderly owners and others in genuine need. The problem of neglected older buildings is not purely a "structural" issue but closely intertwined with complex social issues.

"In the interim, we have enlisted the Buildings Department, Housing Society and the Urban Renewal Authority to provide comprehensive financial and technical assistance to owners. We hope the results and experience in these services would be reviewed in a couple of years and then we will extend and promote these services to the community as a whole."