Renovation works: Housing Society Chairman Yeung Ka-sing, Secretary for Development Carrie Lam and Urban Renewal Authority Chairman Barry Cheung launch Operation Building Bright to help repair old buildings.

A $1 billion special operation will run for two years to provide subsidies and one-stop technical assistance to help owners of 1,000 old buildings conduct repairs, Secretary for Development Carrie Lam says.

"The Budget initiative Operation Building Bright aims to create 10,000 construction and renovation jobs swiftly amid the economic downturn and to help owners improve building safety," Mrs Lam said at a press briefing introducing the plan today.

The Government will allocate $700 million while the Housing Society and the Urban Renewal Authority will each provide $150 million.

A proposal will shortly be presented to the Legislative Council's Development Panel for discussion. The Government will seek fund approval in April to launch the operation in May and create jobs from mid-2009.

Target buildings should meet the following criteria:

* residential or composite buildings aged 30 years or above;

* no more than 400 residential units;

* units' average rateable value must not exceed $100,000 for buildings in urban areas or $76,000 for those in other areas; and,

* must be in dilapidated condition requiring maintenance or repairs, including buildings subject to statutory orders issued by the Buildings Department.

A grant of 80% of the repair cost of the common areas, subject to a $16,000 cap, will be given to the owner of each unit without assets or income means tests. Elderly owner-occupiers aged 60 or above can receive a grant covering the full repair cost, subject to a $40,000 ceiling.

Safety, sanitation first

The grant should first be used for repair works relating to improving building structural safety and sanitary facilities, and improvement works in common areas. It cannot be used for household internal decorations.

"The operation will cover two categories of buildings - those with owners corporations, and those without such corporations or having difficulties in co-ordinating repair works," Mrs Lam said, adding the two categories are estimated at about 500 each.

She noted there are more than 300 buildings which have been served with repair orders but failed to comply within the specified period. The department will take the initiative to inform the owners concerned to join the operation.

Together with the two participating bodies it will also proactively select blocks as target buildings and conduct works on the owners' behalf if they fail to comply with its repair orders. The Government will deduct the grants available to each unit and recover the remaining costs.

For category one, the owners corporations should make an application, which can be open in May at the earliest. Priority of the eligible buildings will be selected and determined by computer ballot.

For details, contact the Housing Society, on 2839 7180 or hsadvisorycentre@hkhs.com, or Urban Renewal Authority, on 2588 2333 or inquiry@mail1.ura.org.hk.