STUDIO APARTMENTS FOR THE ELDERLY

STUDIO APARTMENTS FOR THE ELDERLY

12.

Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan asked the Minister for National Development (a) how many studio apartments for the elderly have been built by HDB since the introduction of the scheme; (b) how many have been taken up; (c) whether his Ministry intends to continue to provide this form of housing for the elderly; and (d) what other measures will be introduced to cater to the housing needs of the elderly.

Mr Mah Bow Tan: Since the launch of the Studio Apartment (SA) scheme in 1998, HDB has built a total of 936 SAs in standalone blocks under the pilot phase. About 96% of the units are currently occupied. The remaining units were returned to HDB by their former owners. HDB will re-offer them for sale to eligible applicants.

In view of the favourable response to the pilot batch of SAs, HDB will be building new SAs to meet the housing needs of the elderly. These will be integrated with other HDB flat types in the same block to encourage more social interaction between the elderly and younger residents. 300 such units are being built at Selective En-bloc Redevelopment Scheme (SERS) replacement sites in Geylang, Bukit Merah and Queenstown. They are currently being offered for sale to SERS lessees and the balance units will be offered to the public at the end of 2004. HDB will gauge the response to these new integrated SAs before deciding on its future plans for SAs.

Besides SAs, the elderly in Singapore have other housing options. They can buy various types of HDB flats according to their preference and financial situation. Through HDB's upgrading programmes, HDB flats are made more elderly friendly to enable our elderly to remain in their own homes. Elderly households with lower incomes can apply to rent a flat from HDB at subsidised rates. We will continue to regularly review our housing policies for the elderly to ensure that they are relevant and sufficient to meet the needs of our ageing population.

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