Hong Kong – Housing Authority endorses enhanced measures to strengthen effectiveness of Marking Scheme for Estate Management Enforcement in Public Housing Estates

May 24, 2023 | International

Housing Authority endorses enhanced measures to strengthen effectiveness of Marking Scheme for Estate Management Enforcement in Public Housing Estates

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The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Housing Authority:

     The Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) Subsidised Housing Committee endorsed today (May 24) the implementation of measures to enhance the Marking Scheme for Estate Management Enforcement in Public Housing Estates by increasing penalty points for nine misdeed items related to environmental hygiene, public safety and serious breach of tenancy agreement; and widening the scope of two misdeed items related to environmental hygiene and/or serious breaches of tenancy agreement.

     “To tie in with the Government’s proposal to raise the level of fixed penalty for offences related to public cleanliness and obstruction, we have conducted a review on the Marking Scheme and will adopt enhanced measures with a view to providing a safe and hygienic living environment for public rental housing (PRH) residents,” a spokesman for the HA said.

     The enhanced measures will take effect in the fourth quarter of 2023. For the revised list of Misdeeds under the Marking Scheme, please see the Annex.

     The penalty points of the following nine misdeed items will be increased:
 

  1. “Littering” – from five to seven;
  2. “Disposing of refuse indiscriminately” – from five to seven;
  3. “Allowing animal and livestock under charge to foul public places with faeces” – from five to seven;
  4. “Obstructing corridors or stairs with sundry items rendering cleansing difficult” – from five to seven;
  5. “Causing noise nuisance” – from five to seven;
  6. “Dumping or disposing of decoration debris indiscriminately at refuse collection point, within building or in other public areas” – from seven to 15;
  7. “Damaging down/sewage pipes causing leakage to the flat below” – from seven to 15, and the warning system will no longer be applicable;
  8. “Damaging or stealing Housing Authority’s property” – from seven to 15; and
  9. “Using leased premises for illegal purpose” – from seven to 15.
     

     The scope of the following two misdeed items will be widened:
 

  1. “Refusing repair of leaking pipes or sanitary fittings responsible by the tenant” be amended to “Failure to repair pipes or sanitary fittings for which the tenant is responsible or to rectify unauthorised alterations as demanded by HA”; and
  2. “Illegal hawking of cooked food” be amended to “Illegal hawking of commodities or services; supplying, promoting, soliciting or advertising of commodities or services that is commercial in nature but without HA’s prior approval”.

     “The HA will step up publicity on the revised Marking Scheme, and will issue a gentle reminder to PRH residents prior to implementation,” the spokesman said.

Your Housing Group boosts Field Force Efficiency and Resident Experience with FLS

Apr 1, 2023 | Business

 One of the UK’s largest housing providers in the North of England with 29,000 homes, YHG utilises Microsoft’s Dynamics 365 platform and selected FLS VISITOUR to provide a robust dynamic scheduling and mobile solution that could also integrate seamlessly with its MRI AccuServ repairs management system.

First was to deliver the FLS solution for fix360, YHG’s dedicated repairs team with circa 200 operatives, secondly the voids team, and subsequent business functions to include surveyors and tenant liaison officers – in total more than 300 resources. Darren Halliwell, YHG’s Chief Information Officer, said: “At the heart of our functional requirements was dynamic scheduling and accurate routing.”

Highlighted results include:

– 25-32% increase in job completion by operatives through efficiency and a commensurate saving in fuel and emissions per job helping towards costs and ESG.
– Greater visibility and a reduced risk of backlogs.
– Automated messaging of arrival time reminders to the customer, improving service and reducing the risk of a “no access” appointment.
– Customer self-service appointment booking has been enabled and a repair can be reported in seconds, 24/7, fitting around resident lifestyles and working days. The success of this project has received recognition in housing industry awards, with YHG a finalist for “Best Digital Transformation.”

Once a customer’s need is qualified by the call centre or via its 24/7 self-service resident portal, Your Home Hub, FLS VISITOUR provides the optimal AM/PM appointment choices according to available operatives and existing commitments, with the customer receiving confirmation text messages as reminders. This utilises real-time optimisation, not just finding white-space to fill in the diary, with the added accuracy of time-of-day actual traffic speeds for every journey. Each appointment is therefore cost-effective and punctual, using operatives with the right skills enabling the best possibility of a first-time fix.

See the full results at https://fastleansmart.com/en/blog/your-housing-group-increases-productivity-of-its-field-service-by-25-32-with-fls-visitour-dynamic-scheduling-solution/

About FLS – FAST LEAN SMART

FLS VISITOUR enables the intelligent optimisation of schedules and resources in real time, delivering more flexibility, route planning ability, and enormous cost savings. www.fastleansmart.com/en

About Your Housing Group

Your Housing Group Limited, a Charitable registered society under the Co-Operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014 no 30666R registered with the HCA no L4203. For all PR & Media enquiries please contact Bird Consultancy on 07816 294055 or email yhg@birdconsultancy.co.uk

FLS – FAST LEAN SMART
James Alex Waldron
+44 1183 800189
https://www.fastleansmart.com/en/

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Hong Kong – Providing a housing lifeboat

Jan 29, 2023 | International

Providing a housing lifeboat

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     To address the short-term public housing shortage, the Chief Executive announced in the 2022 Policy Address that about 30 000 light public housing units will be completed in five years. Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho brought a group of subdivided unit tenants to a mock-up of a light public housing unit for a preview of their future homes.
 
     News.gov.hk spoke to Ms Ho to learn more about how the new units will provide an imperative lifeboat to those with urgent housing needs, especially families living in subdivided units in poor conditions.
 
     The story is available at www.news.gov.hk/eng/feature today (January 29) in text and video format.

Hong Kong – Housing Authority’s electronic service system for rent payment updated

Jan 5, 2023 | International

Housing Authority’s electronic service system for rent payment updated

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The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Housing Authority:
 
     A spokesman for the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) said today (January 4) that it was brought to the HA’s attention yesterday (January 3) that the electronic service system was not updated in a sufficiently timely manner, resulting in the rent amount payable shown not reflecting the Special Relief Measures provided by the HA. The HA has updated the system immediately and all updating has been completed this morning. 
 
     “We understand that some tenants have paid extra money ($2-$175) through the electronic service system between January 1 and January 3. According to our records, tenants who paid rent by means of PPS, ATMs, Internet/phone banking, 7-Eleven/Circle K/VanGO convenience stores, U select, FPS, etc, are affected,” the spokesman said.
 
     “The amount of rent overpaid will be regarded as the amount of rent paid in advance and will be deducted from the rent payable for the following month. Individual tenants who would like to apply for a refund of the overpaid rent may submit an application to their respective estate offices. The HA will notify the tenants affected in writing,” he said.

Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs undertakes Special Campaign 2.0 to institutionalize ‘Swachhta’ as an integral part of our life

Oct 21, 2022 | Business


Special Campaign 2.0 is being undertaken in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs during the month of October, 2022 in line with the campaign being undertaken in a big way across the country in all Ministries / Departments.  The campaign this year seeks to build upon the impressive results which were achieved last year under Special Campaign 1.0 carried out during October, 2021.  It started with the preparatory phase from 14th to 30th September, 2022 in which clear targets were set for the campaign period.  The focus this year has been on field offices and on attached offices / subordinate offices.


After the identification during the preparatory phase, important areas of focus that emerged were pending disposals of public grievances (335 Nos.), references from MPs (72 Nos.), public grievance appeals (94 Nos.) besides review of 12,670 physical files and 207 e-files.


Cleanliness campaign across all offices across the country is the most important part of the campaign.  It is another step forward to institutionalize ‘Swachhta’ as an integral part of our life and make it a truly ‘Jan Andolan’.  Around 300 offices across the country are enthusiastically participating in the Swachhta Campaign.  As of 19th October, 2022, the disposal of pending matters is proceeding with full steam and the Ministry is all set to achieve its targets.  One of the offices under the Ministry, Department of Publications, Civil Lines, New Delhi, has been covered by the Doordarshan team as a part of its coverage of various offices across the country.  The Ministry has been regularly publicizing its activities on the social media.


As a part of the special campaign, the Ministry had facilitated the tie-up of various offices across the country with Self Help Groups (SHGs) in different States / Union Territories.  Under the arrangement, the SHGs are offered space for kiosk in respective offices where they can collect various office waste for recycling.  This is intended to promote ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’ (3Rs) as a part of Swachhta Campaign.


            In Nirman Bhawan, the Ministry has set up a kiosk by Jivika Self Help Group . The experiment has turned out to be a resounding success with the SHG reporting brisk sales of products made of waste paper.  The experiment has also popularized Madhubani Paintings (carved on the products made by SHG) in its own small way.




RKJ/M




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