Upgrading & Renewal

1.             Besides CPF savings, housing is another major policy

a.             Both to narrow income gap

b.             And to build a nest-egg for old age

c.             When economy grows, values of flats go up

d.             When Govern­ment has surpluses, we can upgrade your flats, neighbourhoods and new towns

2.             Three aspects to consider

a.             Front-end – buy the flat

b.             In the middle – enhance the value of the flat

c.             Tail-end – monetise the flat for old age

d.             We have policies for each part

3.             At the front-end

a.             Give more help to lower-income to buy HDB flats

b.             Introduced Additional CPF Housing Grant last year

c.             Will enhance it further

i.               Grant is now up to $20,000

(1)          Increase to $30,000

(2)          A lot, compared to 3-room flat posted price of $120,000

ii.             Also raise household income ceiling

(1)          Now limit is $3,000

(2)          Raise to $4,000

(3)          Cover about half of all households in Singapore

4.             At the tail-end

a.             Make it easier to monetise the flats 

b.             Especially for those in 2R or 3R flats who have only had one bite of the cherry 

c.              For this group, the Government will help them to unlock the value of their flats

i.               Right now, can sell the flat and move to a studio apartment with 30-year lease

ii.             Introduce new scheme – HDB will buy back the tail end of the lease on your flat, and leave you with a shorter lease of 30 years on the same flat 

iii.           Payout in two parts

(1)          Lump sum upfront

(2)          Monthly payments for the rest of your life (i.e. a form of annuity)

iv.           Scheme is for those aged 62 and above

v.             30-year lease should be sufficient, but working out some arrangement if you live longer

vi.           MND is studying this

5.             Today, focus on the middle part – enhancing the value of your home through upgrading and estate renewal

a.             We have many upgrading programmes 

i.               Most popular – Lift Upgrading Programme (LUP) 

ii.             Made this a priority, especially with our ageing population

iii.           Will complete LUP by 2014

b.             Also have schemes for private estates

i.               e.g. Estate Upgrading Programme (EUP) for major upgrading works

ii.             But private estates sometimes still feel neglected

iii.           Lim Hwee Hua chaired a committee to see what we can do

(1)          Revamp the EUP to bring together and coordinate all the works we are doing

(2)          Give private estates Community Improvement Project Committee (CIPC) funds like HDB estates, to carry out smaller scale but more timely enhancements

(3)          Hwee Hua will provide further details

c.             But most Singaporeans live in public housing, and this is HDB’s mission

i.               Continually finding ways to improve and meet new needs and expectations

ii.             From Toa Payoh to Ang Mo Kio, Bishan, Pasir Ris and Sengkang

iii.           Each new estate an improvement over the previous one

New Estates

6.             Next new housing development – Punggol

a.             Started Punggol 21 in 1998

i.               Slowed down due to the financial crisis 

ii.             But now demand is picking up again

iii.           Time to get things back on track

iv.           Used the time to upgrade the plan – Punggol 21+

7.             Show satellite image of Singapore

a.             Zoom into Punggol 

b.             Dam up the river mouths of Sungei Punggol and Sungei Serangoon to create two reservoirs

c.             Create a waterway to link the two reservoirs

d.             Build the town starting from the Town Centre, and then extending along both sides of the waterway

e.             Fly in for a closer look

f.               Best flats are those with a river view

i.               View from inside a flat

ii.             View from outside – gardens everywhere including on rooftops  

g.             Town centre by the waterfront

i.               Malls, retail outlets, F&B, even al-fresco dinning by the water

8.             Punggol 21+ will take some years to build

a.             But can already see something coming up upstream along Sungei Punggol

i.               New Anchorvale Community Club in Sengkang

ii.             Co-located with a sports and recreation centre – 4 swimming pools, indoors sports hall, and football field

iii.           Will be built by the end of the year

iv.           Also a floating island nearby, part of MEWR/PUB’s ABC Waters programme  

9.             This is how Punggol 21+ will look like

a.             Many things to do all around the coastline

b.             Water activities, e.g. canoeing and kayaking 

c.             Cycle or jog all along the coastal promenade 

d.             Chilli crabs at the old Punggol Point  

10.        Punggol 21+ is the face of the new Singa­pore

a.             City with fun and buzz (in Punggol, and downtown with the IRs)

b.             Retaining our present image of a clean, green and safe island

c.             Important that we do not lose our present brand recognition as we acquire new attributes

Old Estates

11.        Old estates also have great potential

a.             We are already redeveloping selected sites within these estates

b.             But where we can clear a large piece of land, we can do more to transform the whole area

c.             e.g. Dawson Estate in Queenstown

i.               Show you where it is on the satellite picture

(1)          Queenstown MRT

(2)          Completed SERS project – Forfar Heights (Strathmore Ave)

(3)          New flats – Clarence Ville (Tanglin Road)

ii.             A lot of open space to develop 10,000 HDB and private flats

(1)          Start with three HDB precincts 

(2)          Alexandra Canal

(a)          Decked over it
(b)          Building a new linear park on top

iii.           Show you some pictures

(1)          Linear park 

(2)          Invited award-winning local architectural firms to design the flats

(a)          Flats integrated with one end of the park
(b)          Precinct at the other end

iv.           Quite a contrast to the old SIT flats

v.             But will preserve some old landmarks in the area

(1)          Old wet market along Commonwealth Avenue

(2)          Old town centre square nearby

vi.           Merge them into the new development  

(1)          Retain the memories and character 

(2)          There will be something extra about the place

Middle-aged Estates

12.        Neither new nor old, but middle-aged estates

a.             Two key programmes to upgrade these estates – MUP and IUP

i.               We have been doing since 1990 – going on for 17 years

ii.             Many residents have benefited 

iii.           Time to upgrade the upgrading programme! 

b.             Grace Fu has been chairing the Forum on HDB Heartware

i.               Received many ideas and requests

ii.             We now have improved versions of our upgrading programmes

c.             Replace IUP with the Neighbourhood Renewal Programme (NRP)

i.               IUP was for individual precincts

ii.             NRP will combine two or more precincts

iii.           Bigger area and larger scale – can plan more and better facilities

iv.           Will still have standard items, e.g. BBQ pits, community gardens, covered walkways, reflexology footpaths etc

v.             But now can also consider non-standard items  

(1)          e.g. street soccer court 

(2)          e.g. skating park

(a)          Already have them in Bedok and Orchard – very popular  
(b)          Will be quite a thrill for the young people

vi.           But up to residents to decide what items you want  

(1)          We will call a Town Hall meeting, and get the residents involved

(2)     You decide what you want for your own communities

d.             For individual flats, will replace the MUP with a new Home Improvement Programme (HIP)

i.               Feedback from focus groups

(1)          Most popular requests are for practical improvements within the flat

(2)          Fix spalling concrete on ceilings

(3)          Upgrade toilets and bathrooms

(4)          Replace entrance doors and grille gates 

ii.             With the HIP, you will get all of these improvements

e.             All of these upgrading programmes cover many flats

i.               They will be in housing estates all over Singapore

ii.             Show you how they all fit together  

iii.           These are the HDB townships all over Singapore

(1)          For flats built up to 1980, 100,000 have already benefited from MUP – blue dots (one dot per precinct)

(2)          Another 100,000 have not yet benefited, and will now enjoy the HIP – light blue dots

(3)          Extend the HIP to slightly younger flats

(a)          Many flats built between 1981 and 1986
(i)            Peak period – HDB built 50,000 flats in some years
(ii)          QC was not so good
(iii)        It has been 25 years
(iv)         Some are starting to show signs of wear and tear
(b)          We will extend the HIP to these flats
(c)          They will also enjoy the NRP
(d)          Another 200,000 flats eligible, or one-quarter of the total flats in Singapore – red dots
(e)          Five main clusters – Jurong East, Bukit Batok, Yishun, Hougang, Tampines
(f)            Choose two towns to pilot the HIP – Yishun and Tampines 

(4)          Extend the NRP to even younger flats

(a)          Those built between 1987 and 1989
(b)          Another 60,000 flats eligible – green dots

iv.           Effect of all this

(1)          Nearly all estates in Singapore will be covered

(2)          There will be something for everyone

v.             Some areas have no dots

(1)          These are new flats built since the 1990s, e.g. Northern part of Chua Chu Kang, Sembawang, Punggol, Sengkang and Pasir Ris

(2)          No need for upgrading yet

(3)          But your turn will come

(4)          Provided Singapore continues to grow and we have the resources to continue these programmes

13.        How will our estates look like after all the upgrading?

a.             HDB made a video clip  

b.             New look of public housing

i.               First-class living environment

ii.             Homes set with greenery and water

iii.           Draw our communities closer together

iv.           Foster a sense of belonging

c.              No other city in the world has this

i.               Public housing that is attractive, affordable and appealing

ii.             A quality home for every citizen

iii.           Assets that appreciate in value, and help provide for old age

d.             We can do it in Singapore

i.               Provided we make the effort and work hard together

ii.             Systematically upgrade and renew our homes

iii.           Remake our entire city

iv.           Will take us 20 or 30 years

v.             Eventually, the whole country will be transformed

14.        Acknowledge:

a.             HDB 

b.             Animation by Nanyang Polytechnic, School of Interactive and Digital Media