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fraction of actual expenses incurred. The plaintiff has to make up the balance.
For this reason many co-owners consider it not worth while to pursue their remedies at all and many delinquent residents have been able to get away with not paying their monthly dues. This has resulted in the deterioration in standard of management of many of our multi-storey buildings and has become a problem so urgent and complex that it needs the concerted efforts of Government, building owners and residents to combat.
Mr. Chairman, the enforcement of Covenants is therefore a very important aspect of multi-storey apartment management. The first attempt to tackle the problem was made by Government in 1956 by the enactment of the Law of Property (Enforcement of Covenants) Ordinance. Then in 1960 Government set up a working party to consider the various problems created by multi-storey buildings. The working party's report, published in 1962, included among its recommendations the introduction of the Factor System.
For lack of the necessary management personnel and on account of the unwillingness on the part of the residents to pay the high costs of professional management, the scheme has not proved acceptable. Since then much consideration has been given by Government officials to devising a scheme for voluntary management of multi-storey buildings. This has resulted in an outline scheme, the proposals for which have been circulating among Government departments and committees for the last 6 months. This outline scheme appears to have been directed primarily towards the surer collection of revenue and the better maintenance of communal facilities and common areas.
From Government's point of view this proposed scheme could be useful as it enables Government to deal with the building owners as a body in the enforcement of laws relating to public health, building ordinance and fire service requirements and the collection of revenue. But from the point of view of the individual owners and residents this scheme still has a number of deficiencies.
If it is to receive public support much thought must be given to the problems of developer, owner and tenant relationship and provisions to facilitate enforcement of Covenants. Provisions have to be made to enable the management or co-owners to have recourse against the tenants as well in cases where the obligation to pay dues has been passed onto them. Efficient management requires the co-operation of all residents whether they are owners or tenants.
For the enforcement of Covenants I find many useful provisions in the ill-fated report of the Working Party on sub-divided Buildings. The provisions for enforcement of payment of dues may be easily adopted and made to apply to the Executive Committee provided for under the voluntary management scheme prepared by Government. Such provisions will enable the latter to distrain for the dues owing upon 28 days notice to charge and recover interest at 1% per month after 7 days notice and to register a charge against the property if the amount owing exceeds $500.00. Further provisions should be made to enable the Executive Committee or its duly appointed agent in certain cases to recover costs on a solicitor and client basis as in trust matters. This will enable the defaulting party to be required to pay all the legal costs incurred in proceedings brought by the management but rendered necessary solely by his own default. Such provisions would deter delinquent residents and would pave the way for more efficient management of our multi-storey buildings.
Meanwhile pending the working out of a detailed scheme the Secretariat for Chinese Affairs should be encouraged to go ahead with the very useful work of promoting the formation of residents associations. According to information there are approximately 1,500 multi-storey buildings which do not yet have their own management associations. Organizing them all would be a formidable task which requires the concentrated efforts of that department for the next 3-4 years.
Mr. Chairman, the problems attending the management and ownership of multi-storey buildings are complex and difficult and if through my efforts greater attention is focussed on the subject it will have been most worthwhile.
With these remarks I support the Motion. (Applause).
MR. H. M. G. FORSGATE:—Mr. Chairman, I hope I may have the indulgence of Council if my voice packs up. One of my colleagues will carry on. I have a case of golfer's laryngitis. After all this hi-fi legal stuff, and it may be noted that the legal effort is all at this end of the table, my stuff will be rather poor by comparison.
In rising to support the Motion before Council, I would like to draw attention to some of the problems I consider require to be ventilated in the rather expansive atmosphere of this annual debate.
Firstly, the question of overcrowding in the older resettlement estates is emphasized by the number of cases brought to our Ward Offices which represent a cross section of the extreme sociological problems besetting growing families, who by natural expansion since they were quite happily resettled years ago, are now chafing, quite naturally, at the limitation of space in their flats. We all want to
377
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
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1279
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fraction of actual expenses incurred. The plaintiff has to make up
the balance.
For this reason many co-owners consider it not worth while to pursue their remedies at all and many delinquent residents have been able to get away with not paying their monthly dues. This has re- sulted in the deterioration in standard of management of many of our multi-storey buildings and has become a problem so urgent and complex that it needs the concerted efforts of Government, building owners and residents to combat.
Mr. Chairman, the enforcement of Covenants is therefore a very important aspect of multi-storey apartment management. The first attempt to tackle the problem was made by Government in 1956 by the enactment of the Law of Property (Enforcement of Covenants) Ordinance. Then in 1960 Government set up a working party to consider the various problems created by multi-storey buildings. The working party's report, published in 1962, included among its recom- mendations the introduction of the Factor System.
For lack of the necessary management personnel and on account of the unwillingness on the part of the residents to pay the high costs of professional management, the scheme has not proved acceptable. Since then much consideration has been given by Government officials to devising a scheme for voluntary management of multi-storey build- ings. This has resulted in an outline scheme, the proposals for which have been circulating among Government departments and committees for the last 6 months. This outline scheme appears to have been directed primarily towards the surer collection of revenue and the better maintenance of communal facilities and common areas.
From Government's point of view this proposed scheme could be useful as it enables Government to deal with the building owners as a body in the enforcement of laws relating to public health, building ordinance and fire service requirements and the collection of revenue. But from the point of view of the individual owners and residents this scheme still has a number of deficiencies.
If it is to receive public support much thought must be given to the problems of developer, owner and tenant relationship and provi- sions to facilitate enforcement of Covenants. Provisions have to be made to enable the management or co-owners to have recourse against the tenants as well in cases where the obligation to pay dues has been passed onto them. Efficient management requires the co-operation of all residents whether they are owners or tenants.
For the enforcement of Covenants I find many useful provisions in the ill-fated report of the Working Party on sub-divided Buildings. The provisions for enforcement of payment of dues may be easily
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
377
adopted and made to apply to the Executive Committee provided for under the voluntary management scheme prepared by Government. Such provisions will enable the latter to distrain for the dues owing upon 28 days notice to charge and recover interest at 1% per month after 7 days notice and to register a charge against the property if the amount owing exceeds $500.00. Further provisions should be made to enable the Executive Committee or its duly appointed agent in certain cases to recover costs on a solicitor and client basis as in trust matters. This will enable the defaulting party to be required to pay all the legal costs incurred in proceedings brought by the management but rendered necessary solely by his own default. Such provisions would deter de- linquent residents and would pave the way for more efficient manage- ment of our multi-storey buildings.
Meanwhile pending the working out of a detailed scheme the Secretariat for Chinese Affairs should be encouraged to go ahead with the very useful work of promoting the formation of residents associa- tions. According to information there are approximately 1,500 multi- storey buildings which do not yet have their own management associa- tions. Organizing them all would be a formidable task which requires the concentrated efforts of that department for the next 3-4 years.
Mr. Chairman, the problems attending the management and owner- ship of multi-storey buildings are complex and difficult and if through my efforts greater attention is focussed on the subject it will have been most worthwhile.
With these remarks I support the Motion. (Applause).
MR. H. M. G. FORSGATE:—Mr. Chairman, I hope I may have the indulgence of Council if my voice packs up. One of my colleagues will carry on. I have a case of golfer's laryngitis. After all this hi-fi legal stuff, and it may be noted that the legal effort is all at this end of the table, my stuff will be rather poor by comparison.
In rising to support the Motion before Council, I would like to draw attention to some of the problems I consider require to be venti- lated in the rather expansive atmosphere of this annual debate.
Firstly, the question of overcrowding in the older resettlement estates is emphasized by the number of cases brought to our Ward Offices which represent a cross section of the extreme sociological problems besetting growing families, who by natural expansion since they were quite happily resettled years ago, are now chafing, quite naturally, at the limitation of space in their flats. We all want to
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