More HDB flats to enjoy Home Improvement Programme: PM Lee
Flats built between 1987 and 1997 will also be included in expanded HIP
A total of 550,000 Housing Board flats will benefit under a newly expanded Home Improvement Programme (HIP), the HDB said yesterday.
The HIP, which was introduced in 2007, has so far benefited around 320,000 flats.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in his National Day Rally speech last night that another 230,000 flats built between 1987 and 1997, when the flats are about 30 years old, would be included.
Not only that, HDB owners can look forward to another upgrading when the flats reach about 60 to 70 years old, Mr Lee added. This second phase of the programme, HIP II, will start in about 10 years' time.
Previously, only flats built up to 1986 that had not undergone the previous Main Upgrading Programme (MUP) were offered the HIP.
There are about 320,000 flats eligible under the 1986 age band. Of that number, the HIP has been announced for about 242,000 since 2007, HDB said.
Upgrading work has been completed for 122,000 flats and is under way in the rest. The Government expects to spend about $4 billion on these flats.
The MUP was launched in 1990 and completed in 2011, benefiting some 130,000 additional households.
Mr Lee said: "We launched the HIP 10 years ago. The final batch of HIP flats will be announced by next year. So within a few years, all flats eligible for HIP will have been balloted, passed, executed and upgraded.
"That means altogether 450,000 flats upgraded under MUP plus HIP."
The first round of upgrading, which includes flats built up to 1997, will start soon, Mr Lee said, adding: "Pasir Ris will get HIP, and so will Yishun, Tampines, Jurong and several other estates."
The Government pays up to 95 per cent of the upgrading cost, so residents pay as little as a few hundred dollars.
"The first HIP will cost the Government more than $4 billion. HIP II will probably cost even more, because the flats will be twice as old by then. But it is well justified, and we will do it as long as (the Finance Ministry) has the money," Mr Lee said.
An essential upgrade, the HIP fixes maintenance problems.
"We upgrade the electrical supply too... because more families have air-conditioners, washing machines, computers and now, personal mobility devices," Mr Lee said.
"It is not surprising that after upgrading, the flat value usually goes up."
The HIP, HIP II and Voluntary Early Redevelopment Scheme are well rounded and innovative policies that could address the concerns of Singaporeans, said OrangeTee & Tie's head of research and consultancy Christine Sun.
"As most flats will be upgraded twice before the lease expires, Singaporeans may not need to worry too much about the depreciating value of an ageing flat now," she said.
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