The grant is a financial assistance for owners of owner-occupied buildings to repair their buildings and improve building disrepair.

Eligible applicants include the following categories of owners.

(a) Elderly persons aged 60 or above, who must meet the income and asset limits.

(ii) recipients of Old Age Living Allowance (OALA).

(c) CSSA recipients who meet specific eligibility criteria

(d) Disability Allowance recipients, subject to income and asset limits.

However, if the applicant is bankrupt and has not been discharged from bankruptcy, the allowance will not be granted.

For elderly persons aged 60 or above, the applicant must be the owner and his/her legal spouse must also be living in the same flat, with a maximum grant of $80,000 per owner-occupied property. The amount may be used in up to four separate applications within ten years from the date of submission of the first successful application for the subsidy.

In addition, the monthly income limits for single persons and couples aged 60 or above are $10,430 and $15,810 respectively, excluding MPF contributions, Disability or Old Age Allowance and mortgage repayments for self-occupied flats; and the asset limits are $1,122,000 and $1,704,000 respectively, excluding the value of self-occupied properties.

The scope of application for the "Maintenance Grant for Needy Persons" is very broad, covering building safety-related repair works carried out in the owner-occupied flat or common areas of the building, such as improvement to the safety of the building structure and external walls of the building, i.e. the more common items such as spalling or defective concrete, building inspection or repair works, removal of unauthorized building works and illegal rooftop structures, fire safety improvement, etc.

For those who apply for the "Maintenance Grant for the Needy", they are required to fill in Annex 2 to declare the purpose of the grant, as well as their income and assets.

It should be noted that if the purpose of the grant application is for individual unit maintenance works, the application must be submitted before the commencement of the works and a copy of the quotation must be attached.

For works related to the common areas of the building, the application must be made before the issuance of the Certificate of Completion of Works and be accompanied by a copy of the payment notice and receipt of the building.

The completed form together with the required information can be mailed or submitted to the relevant URA department.

Upon receipt of the application, the URA will send its staff to inspect the property and approve the quotation. After the initial approval, the applicant will be informed that the amount of subsidy will be approved in principle and will be invited to sign the subsidy agreement at the URA Application Unit.

However, this does not mean that the application process is complete. Applicants must notify the URA Application Unit upon completion of the project so that arrangements can be made for staff to visit the site to inspect the completion status.

In addition, the applicant must submit an application form for completion of the project, as well as a certificate of registration of the contractor and a copy of the completion certificate within the time specified in the Notice of Approval-in-Principle. The grant will be disbursed only after all application procedures and documents are completed.