'Property Management Firms To Get Billions As Aid'

The Democratic Party said on Monday that the property management industry, which employs about 250,000 people, stands to get billions of dollars under a government coronavirus relief package, even though the sector has barely been affected by the pandemic.

The party said unlike other industries, property management companies continue to have a stable source of income during the Covid-19 crisis, collecting the fees paid by home owners

Under an anti-epidemic fund unveiled by Chief Executive Carrie Lam, companies will be paid 50 percent of workers’ salaries for six months, with the amount for each worker capped at HK$9,000. The aim of the plan is to prevent companies from sacking workers due to the economic downturn.

The opposition party’s Winfield Chong said he estimates that under this plan the property management industry will receive around HK$11.2 billion in subsidies.

The party said some firms with many workers could receive tens of millions of dollars, in some cases much more than their normal annual profits.

Lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting accused the government of being lazy and irresponsible for rolling out a relief package that is full of loopholes and using taxpayers’ money to subsidise businesses unaffected by the pandemic.

He said since the package has already been approved in Legco, it’s unlikely that the government will make significant changes to the scheme.

Lam said his party will therefore take the matter into its own hands by holding meetings with representatives of the industry.

He called on property management companies to refund one month's management fee to each home owner, saying many people are having a difficult time due to the coronavirus situation.

The lawmaker said it is unacceptable that companies pocket a large amount of subsidies even though their businesses are doing perfectly fine.