Property Management Services Authority Responds to Consumer Council’s Study on Private Residential Property Management Fee in Hong Kong
The Property Management Services Authority (PMSA) noted that the Consumer Council has conducted a study on private residential property management fee and has published a report. It reflects the significance of property management (PM) operation to the community and that it is closely related to our daily livelihood.
As the regulator and advocate for the PM industry, the PMSA’s vision for implementing the PM industry licensing regime is to drive the development of the industry in Hong Kong towards enhanced professionalism so as to provide quality and diverse services to members of the public through adopting the three-pronged approach of “regulating through licensing”, “setting professional standard” and “encouraging continuing professional development”. The PMSA is convinced that, by formulating an objective set of professional qualification and requirement for the PM industry, members of the public may readily understand the operation and professional standard of the industry, which is key to enhancing the professional level of PM services and ultimately safeguarding consumer rights. Since the implementation of the licensing regime as from August 2020, the PMSA has up to now issued over 500 property management company (PMC) licences and more than 10,000 property management practitioner licences.
The PMSA embraces digitalization in the provision of PM services and encourages the industry to widely adopt the use of technology for service enhancement. The PMSA will take an active role in such promotion, but will not be involved in the commercial interest of individual PMC or technology enterprise.
The PMSA attaches utmost importance to protecting the rights of PM service users/property owners, and recognizes that active participation of property owners in property management affairs and obtaining appropriate market information will enable them to make smart decision in procuring PM services.
As society continues to advance, property variety, scale, and functions have become more complex and diversified. PM services as such cover various professional areas, and the issue of management fee level cannot be readily generalized. Therefore, when procuring PM services, the level of management fee charged should not be the only factor to be considered for selecting PMC. The PMSA will promote to the public that, for obtaining value-for-money PM services, we should take into consideration both objective attributes including the type and level of the PM services provided, property age, location, facilities involved, property size, number of units, management staff engaged, etc., as well as the quality standard of the PMC concerned, and whether it upholds the core values of PM, i.e. quality, integrity and advancement, when delivering services.
Property Management Services Authority
4 May 2023
