Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Alice Mak said on Saturday a government proposal to make briefings for homeowners mandatory before they attend incorporated owners' meetings on major renovation projects for their estates or buildings should boost attendance and enable them to make informed decisions.

The proposal is part of a larger effort to tighten up laws regulating property management in the city.

Mak said after a Commercial Radio programme that the changes would also enhance transparency.

“If there are briefing sessions held before the EGM [extraordinary general meeting] or AGM [annual general meeting], owners will have more information about the works that will be carried out,” she said after a Commercial Radio programme.

“And that will encourage owners to attend the EGM or AGM and to make sensible and reasonable decisions for the buildings.”

Mak noted that the use of technology to, for instance, allow homeowners to attend and vote in meetings even when they are not in Hong Kong was becoming the standard practice.

However, she pointed out, some housing estates do not even have any management companies or owners’ corporations.

The government is looking to amend the ordinance in various ways, including raising the voting threshold needed to approve major renovation works, imposing a cap on the number of proxies authorised to attend owners’ meetings, and requiring both consultants and contractors to declare their interests.

Mak said a public consultation would be launched soon upon consolidating industry views.



Edited by Cecil Wong