The future of property management : a feasibility study of using PropTech in the management of public rental housing in Hong Kong

Abstract

Recently, the emergence of property technology (PropTech) has transformed the property sector in an international context. With the use of different PropTech applications, property managers can better understand building information, learn users’ behaviour to facilitate better decision-making in managing properties. The use of PropTech has also given the potential in saving operational cost in property management. In view of the increasing number of public rental housing (PRH) in Hong Kong, public expenditure spent on PRH operations is expected to surge as building ages. Whereas labour shortage problem in the industry intensifies the financial burden in operating PRH. This has called for a change in the traditional way of PRH management. In this study, the feasibility of using PropTech in PRH management is assessed from the user acceptance perspective. From literatures, we derived user acceptance as one of the main determinants in successful technology application. Therefore, primary research was carried out to learn the factors influencing user acceptance of the two main stakeholders of PRH, property managers and residents. Research findings has shown that concerns on privacy have significant influence on user’s acceptance, which impacts the feasibility of PropTech use in PRH. Therefore, it is suggested to consider its impact in facilitating smooth PropTech implementation.