Property Management Company Licence Issued to Urban Renewal Authority
List of Property Management Licensees to be Gazetted
Property Management Services Authority Appeals to Experienced Property Management Practitioners for Seizing the Opportunity to Apply for Provisional Licence before the Property Management Industry Licensing Regime Transitional Period Ends
In accordance with the requirement stipulated in the Property Management Services Ordinance (Cap. 626), the Property Management Services Authority (PMSA) will publish in the Gazette tomorrow the list of licensees as of 30 April 2023 under the property management (PM) industry licensing regime.
As of today, the PMSA has issued nearly 13,000 property management practitioner (PMP) licences, whereby formal licences account for 68%, while provisional licences account for 32%. The PMSA has also received over 680 property management companies (PMCs) licence applications (more than 10 PMCs have also made appointment to apply for licence, which means cumulatively nearly 700 PMCs have already applied or made appointment to apply for licence), and has already issued licences to 530 PMCs/organisations, including the Urban Renewal Authority (URA). In addition to facilitating urban renewal in Hong Kong, the URA is also the deed of mutual covenant manager for some properties and provides more than one prescribed category of PM services to such properties, and is therefore required to be licenced. Moreover, nearly 70 PMCs have already largely completed licensing procedures and will be issued licence within the coming 1-2 months (i.e. nearly 600 PMCs in total have been licensed or have largely completed licensing procedures).
Chairperson of the PMSA Dr James WONG said, “The URA has served Hong Kong people for more than 20 years and is committed to taking forward urban regeneration through redevelopment, rehabilitation, preservation, revitalisation and retrofitting throughout the years to improve the built environment in old urban districts and for realising the ultimate vision of creating a sustainable and liveable smart city. I wish to express my heartfelt thanks to the URA for supporting the PM industry licensing regime by action, not only stipulating PMCs holding licence as a prerequisite when tendering for PM services for its properties, but also apply for PMC licence itself to set a model for other industry stakeholders to follow.”
The three-year transitional period under the PM industry licensing regime will end on 31 July this year. PMPs who assume managerial or supervisory role during the transitional period and possess the specified work experience but do not have the required academic and/or professional qualifications may apply for provisional licence first. Upon completion of the PMSA Specified Course within the validity of the provisional licence, they may then apply for formal PMP licence without the academic and/or professional qualifications required.
Chairperson WONG reminded the experienced PMPs concerned, “The transitional period will end in a little more than two months. As the PMSA will not accept provisional licence applications anymore after the transitional period, PMPs who wish to become formal PMP licence holders need to seize the time and grasp the opportunity to apply for provisional licence before the transitional period ends.”
He added, “Provisional PMP licensees have been eager to apply for attending the Specified Courses in the last few months. Applicants may have to be placed on waiting list or may have to wait for the next round of courses before they can be enrolled. Moreover, Specified Course (Tier 1) and (Tier 2) will take respectively at least 6 and 3 months to complete. Therefore, provisional PMP licence holders who have yet to apply for the Specified Courses ought to do so soonest possible to ensure that they would be able to complete the course before the expiry date of their licence and meet the application criteria for formal PMP licence.”
The PMSA has appointed four tertiary institutions, including the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education, Vocational Training Council, Li Ka Shing School of Professional and Continuing Education, Hong Kong Metropolitan University; School of Continuing and Professional Education, City University of Hong Kong as well as School of Professional Education and Executive Development, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, to provide the Specified Courses to provisional licence holders. The courses are on the list of “Reimbursable Courses” under the Continuing Education Fund (CEF). Students may apply for the CEF to subsidise the course fee upon completion of the course. Over 3,600 students have already been enrolled since the launch of the Specified Courses in October 2020.
Starting from 1 August 2023, all PMCs providing properties subject to deed of mutual covenant with more than one category of prescribed PM services, as well as PMPs serving managerial or supervisory roles in such PMCs to provide PM services, must hold valid PM licence in order to continue to provide PM services in accordance with the law. A PMC required to be licensed cannot act as a PMC if it does not possess a valid PMC licence and a PMP cannot act as a licensed PMP if he/she does not possess a valid PMP licence. Contravention is liable on conviction to a maximum fine of $500,000 and imprisonment for two years.
Ends/Wednesday, 24 May 2023
Issued at HKT 17:30
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