Dr. Kwong Tsz-man Senior Programme Director HKU SPACE

Property has for the past couple of decades been the major industry in Hong Kong and, despite the current market slump, still accounts for a significant proportion of employment in the territory. Unlike the more prominent disciplines of property agents and developers, the role of the housing manager is considerably more low profile.

Dr Kwong Tsz-man, Senior Programme Director at The University of Hong Kong's School of Professional and Continuing Education (HKU SPACE), believes that the industry offers a steady and fulfilling career, and cites the university's 30 years' experience in providing housing management instruction as an indication of the role's longevity.

"When we first started providing housing management programmes we were primarily a course provider for the government's Housing Department," he explains. "In that context, the courses involved a fair amount of community work, such as organizing pastoral care for residents. In terms of housing services, the estates were very basic, which reflected in the courses."

Now the split between public and private sector employees enrolled on HKU SPACE's courses is about fifty-fifty; in addition, the Housing Department's mode of operation has become increasingly like the private sector's with its provision of Home Ownership Scheme apartments.

Managing a housing career

Dr Kwong notes that nowadays most residential buildings regardless of age will require building management, guaranteeing demand for skilled employees in this field. "On a basic level, housing management encompasses security, cleaning services and renovations," he says. "In housing management training, we aim to develop five main strengths: building technology and services; legal knowledge; management skills; communications skills; and housing policy."

All the HKU SPACE housing management courses are part time, aimed at housing professionals training for management grade. Professional validations are also available, with two main routes a student can take.

First degree holders (in disciplines other than housing management) can take the Master of Housing Management degree's professional stream, which will also grant membership to The Centre of Urban Planning and Environmental Management and the Chartered Institute of Housing.

Alternatively, a student can take a Certificate in Housing Practice Course that offers the same professional memberships, before advancing to a Bachelor of Housing Management and the Master's degree.

"About 80 per cent of our students already hold first degrees," notes Dr Kwong, adding that the professional qualifications are a useful addition to already existing management studies. "Increasing numbers of applicants also hold MBAs."

After-sales service

Although much of the job is administrative and organizational, Dr Kwong emphasizes that housing management is now very much a service industry. "Residents require not just shelter, but quality of life; modern apartment complexes now include many facilities, such as clubhouses and gymnasiums," he remarks. "Housing management is very much like after-sales service; the property developer builds, markets and sells the apartments, but after that it's up to the management company to make the residents' lives as comfortable and hassle-free as possible. In this respect, good housing management adds value to a property."

Handling a housing complex is no small task, and one that has been made more complicated by advances in building design and the evolving tastes of residents.

"On a very simplistic level, the role of the housing manager is to allocate the revenues generated by an apartment complex's management fees in the most efficient way possible," says Dr Kwong. "Given that an average apartment complex might have about 3,000 to 4,000 apartments, a housing manager would have to handle a budget of at least $1.5 million per month."

Safe as houses

Given the current development of the property market, Dr Kwong sees little turbulence ahead for housing management professionals. "With the continued supply of new flats, housing management should remain a stable career for years to come; at the present rate about 40,000 new flats are coming onto the housing market each year and they all need management," he notes. "In this respect, the career of a housing manager, although closely linked to the property market, is not subject to the same fluctuations that affect property agents."

Taken from Career Times 2002/06/07