NEW FLAT APPLICATIONS BY THE ELDERLY

NEW FLAT APPLICATIONS BY THE ELDERLY: 6.

Dr Lim Wee Kiak asked the Minister for National Development (a) what percentage of new flat applications are from the elderly for the last 12 months; (b) what is the success rate of these applicants compared to the rest; and (c) whether the Ministry will be introducing any new measures to cope with the housing demand of an ageing population.

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for National Development (Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman) (for the Minister for National Development): Mr Speaker, Sir, over the last 12 months, about 4% of new flat applicants in our HDB’s Built-To-Order (BTO) exercises were 55 years or older. New HDB flats are primarily meant for first-timer households with 90% of BTO flats set aside for them to set up their first home. First-timers are also given double the chances when balloting for a new flat. The success rate of applicants is therefore determined by the status of whether they are first-timer or otherwise, and not by their age. Many of the elderly have benefited from our public housing schemes earlier in their lives and, if so, they are considered second timers, and will be accorded lower priority. Elderly who are first-time applicants will enjoy the same chances as their younger counterparts.

Sir, in recognition of the unique housing needs of the elderly, HDB has introduced the Studio Apartment for those 55 years or older. Studio Apartments are sold with a shorter lease of 30 years and come with elder-friendly features such as lever taps and hand bars. They have been very popular with close to 100% take-up rate. HDB will continue to build more of them. One thousand more units are planned for launch over the next two years.

To meet the needs of an ageing population, we have also put in place an array of monetisation options to enable elderly home owners to unlock their flat equity to support their retirement. Downgrading to a Studio Apartment or a smaller resale flat is one way to unlock flat equity. The elderly can also choose to sell or sublet their flat and stay with their children. HDB has progressively relaxed its whole flat subletting rules to allow more lessees to do so.

Since March this year, HDB has implemented the Lease Buyback Scheme (LBS) to help the less well-off elderly in smaller flats unlock their flat equity. This subsidised scheme allows them to age-in-place while receiving a monthly income for life. To date, more than 300 elderly households have applied for the scheme.

We will continue to review and enhance the LBS and other monetisation schemes to cater to the needs of our elderly.

Dr Lim Wee Kiak (Sembawang): Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to thank the Parliamentary Secretary for his reply. Can I ask him if the Ministry will consider a system, similar to Hong Kong, whereby one of the criteria for allocation of priority for public housing is the age of the applicants in view of our changing demographics; and also whether a proportion of the flats can be guaranteed or allocated to this group of applicants. Likewise, will the units that are closer to the lifts, for example, be safeguarded for this group of applicants?

Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman: Sir, I think first we will have to make a distinction between the types of flats that we are talking about. If we are talking about flats which are 2-rooms, 3-rooms, 4-rooms, 5-rooms and newer flats, I think we will have to probably be fair to all flat applicants. It is an issue of subsidy – those who have had earlier subsidies and are not first-timers, probably it is only fair for them to get lower priority. We also have a lot of calls from first-timer applicants who have been asking for priority and the system that we have put in place will be able to weigh in favour of those who have not had their first flat.

In the example that Dr Lim mentioned, the Hong Kong system is applied to allocation of rental flats rather than purchase flats. In terms of allocation of rental flats, we have put in place certain criteria respecting the uniqueness of the housing policies that we have.

I think what we want to try to address is really whether the elderly have got housing options. And when we talk about housing options for the elderly, it really is – at the same time we must also bear in mind – the other aspect of ageing which is economic adequacy. So that is why we talk about allowing them to monetise and unlock their flat equity. For the elderly, if they want to downgrade or they want to unlock their flat equity, there are several things as I have mentioned earlier – either you sublet the whole flat, give your children, sublet the rooms or Studio Apartment.

As far as Studio Apartments are concerned, they are treated separately from the 2-room, 3-room or 4-room flats. In that case, it is the elderly who are so-called "competing" amongst themselves with regard to who will be able to access to Studio Apartments. Again, at the end of day, it is a fairer system where they have to ballot for those Studio Apartments. We recognise that Studio Apartments are very, very popular amongst the elderly and we continue to put forth new projects. As I mentioned earlier, we will be putting up about a thousand more Studio Apartments in the next two years.

On the issue of allocation of flats near the lifts for elderly, I think it is a complex system if you want to consider that. At the end of the day, first we have to look at where the elderly are today. We have met the needs of the elderly by providing access to lifts through our Lifts Upgrading Programme (LUP). We have not had spectacular requests specifically for them to be located next to lifts. I think it will require a lot more issues that have to be dealt with in relation to how we can actually facilitate such a process. For now we are quite assured that the needs of the elderly have been met through the LUP, meaning that they have access to lifts on every floor. We have provided an array of opportunities for them to continue to be housed adequately and at the same time have adequate economic resources for their retirement.