The Hong Kong Institute of Housing (HKIH) welcomes the various measures to increase housing and land supply and expedite redevelopment in the Chief Executive's latest Policy Address. To coordinate with the Policy Address, the HKIH advocates the government to subsidize property management training courses and put forward a property management licensing regime by legislation in a timely manner. Ensuring sufficient number of talents and quality property management services are crucial to the public interests.
      The increase of housing supply can assist in relieving the demand for homes in Hong Kong, while the need for property management practitioners will then increase in both quality and quantity. If there is an increase of over 120,000 flats to be supplied in the next 3 to 4 years according to the Policy Address, an additional number of over 3,000 property management practitioners will be required for the new properties. It should be noted commercial properties, including retail shops and office buildings, have not been taken into account yet. Given that the education programmes accredited by HKIH introduce 100 "new blood" professionals into the industry each year, while the newly completed properties will add pressure to the supply of property management talents, the HKIH recommends financial incentives for local tertiary institutions to organize more property management programmes catering for market needs. The government may provide financial incentives or subsidies to practitioners so as to encourage them to study the relevant property management training courses to equip themselves with latest skills and knowledge.
     "In the long term, in recognizing the increasing demand for quality property management facilities and talents with the housing supply, it is necessary to introduce the property management licensing system promptly," said Ms Cora Yuen, President of the HKIH. "A two-tier licensing regime is believed to be able to enhance the service quality of local property management, and to allow property owners and the public to distinguish quality and professional practitioners from those sub-standard practitioners in the industry."