OLD PRIVATE ESTATES (Subsidised upgrading scheme)

Mr Imram bin Mohamed asked the Minister for National Development whether the Government will consider introducing a subsidised upgrading scheme for old private apartments and the run down common facilities of private estates similar to the Housing and Development Board upgrading scheme.

Mr Lim Hng Kiang: Mr Speaker, last year, my Ministry set up a committee to look further into what can be done to improve private housing estates. However, this programme that is being studied is, by no means, equivalent to the upgrading programme that we are carrying out for HDB flats. What the committee is doing is to see whether all the current improvement works on the roads, planting on the verges, lighting, neighbourhood parks, etc, can be better coordinated so as to achieve a better result. In doing so, there may also be scope for further improvements. The main thrust of the programme being considered for private housing estates is therefore to see what can be done to the common areas outside the individual homes.

Similarly, for private apartments, the upgrading will be carried out outside the apartment blocks. Apartment developments which can form part of a cluster with a housing estate will be included in the upgrading of that housing estate. The difficulty is that many private apartment blocks are stand-alone developments which do not form part of a cluster within a housing estate. Such cases will have a much more limited scope for upgrading.

I must, however, stress that the Government's priority remains with the upgrading of the older smaller HDB flats. One of the objectives of upgrading HDB flats, besides improving the environment, is to enhance the value of these flats. As the value of private property has appreciated significantly over the past few years, we will continue to place our efforts and emphasis in the HDB estates.

Mr Imram bin Mohamed (Nominated Member): Sir, has any money actually been disbursed to private estates for the purpose of upgrading their common areas?

Mr Lim Hng Kiang: Currently, there are on-going programmes to upgrade and improve the private housing estates done by the various agencies in different Ministries, whether it is Parks and Recreation Department in planting, landscaping, improving the neighbourhood parks, or the Roads Branch in improving the roads, or the Ministry of the Environment (Drainage Department) in improving the drains. So money has and is spent all the time on the private housing estates. What this committee tries to do is to see how these can be integrated and, in so doing, add other items to the upgrading programme. The committee has not completed its deliberations yet because this is an inter-Ministry committee. When it is ready with its report, we will announce the findings.