Fast work by WhatsApp group of volunteers helping to fix flats for needy families in Hong Kong
Build and Wish Voluntary Team – a network of more than 120 structural engineers, surveyors and contractors – has pitched in with NGO on social housing project
When two needy families move into a restored flat next month paying just HK$3,000 (US$385) a month in rent, it will be the culmination of a partnership between a non-profit organisation and a WhatsApp group of professionals to build social housing,
The 550 sq ft flat will be the first completed for SoCO by Build and Wish Voluntary Team, a network of more than 120 structural engineers, surveyors and contractors.
Under SoCO’s project, old, dilapidated walk-up flats donated or leased to the group are transformed into liveable homes for needy families in the queue for public housing. They can live there for up to five years, or until they are allocated a flat.
Shared housing project set to provide relief for 1,000 needy families
The project, launched last year, allows each tenant family to pay about a quarter of their salary, or HK$3,000 in this case, for the flat.