Trust relationship between owners’ corporations and property management company in private residential buildings

Abstract

Trust is the basis of every relationship. Reichheld, Frederick F and Thomas Teal. (1996) believed that without trust, there can be no loyalty and without loyalty, there can be no true growth. With the rise in multi-owned building property disputes in recent years, trust has been a hot issue in property management when the high-rise, high-density developments have become the norm because of the scarcity of developable land in Hong Kong. Therefore, the building owners should form the owners' corporation on behalf of all building residents to handle building management issues with the management company. In view of this, it is important to examine the foundation of the trust relationship between owners' corporations and property management companies in private residential buildings. This study examines the trust connection between property managers and owners' corporations in private residential buildings in Hong Kong, using a multi-disciplinary approach to trust. It aims to make a connection between the concepts of trust and property management in order to understand trust in this bilateral relationship. The questionnaires were distributed randomly to private residential buildings with owners' corporations to understand how the property manager and committee members perceived trust as being between them. The information obtained was then divided into two groups to examine which factors were the most important to them. Finally, it was found that they were moving in a similar direction either at the inter-personal or inter-organization level. The importance of relationship management in the property management sector is highlighted in this study. On the basis of these findings, it is believed that trust is maintained as the foundation for the property management process. This can lead to a stronger degree of cooperation among all members of the community throughout the management project, resulting in better outcomes. Overall, this study contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the trust relationship between owners' corporations and property management businesses in private residential buildings by examining distinctions in the origin and substance of information as well as the specific type of trust.