HDB Flat Owners Can Pay Less When Opting Out Of Upgrades

Source : The Straits Times, 22 Aug 2007

Also, essential repairs to older flats will be free under new home improvement scheme

OWNERS of ageing Housing Board flats will soon be able to pay less when opting out of bigger improvements and have essential repairs done for free.

The changes are part of the new Home Improvement Programme announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Sunday.

The programme, which is tailored to be more responsive to residents’ views, will introduce greater flexibility.

Under the existing scheme, upgrading flats could involve anything from new toilets, doors and even additional rooms - but at a cost.

Some households landed bills of $6,200 or so, which could not be cut even if they opted out of various items. The extra rooms the HDB used to offer for old flats were rejected by several residents who feared the disruption involved.

But the new programme means flat owners will have the option to reduce their bills by opting out of extras such as new doors and grille gates.

The Government will fully pay for essential improvements like replacing waste pipes and fixing spalling concrete, and subsidise the cost of optional items like new doors or toilets.

Subsidies for this work will be increased. An owner of a four-room flat, for example, will have to pay only 7.5 per cent of the upgrading bill for optional items instead of 15 per cent.

That means eligible households will pay $550 to $1,375 if they opt for the full package, instead of $2,490 to $6,225 now.

The changes were all about tailoring upgrading to suit residents’ needs, said Minister of State for National Development Grace Fu yesterday.

‘We thought in order to cover a wider group of residents, it’s good that we focus on the issues they’re most bothered with and just address them,’ she said.

About 200,000 more homes now stand to benefit from this smaller scale plan, which is targeted more at fixing the common problem of spalling concrete and ceiling leaks in old flats.

Spalling occurs when steel bars embedded in concrete corrode and expand, causing walls and ceilings to crack.

An MP for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, Mr Charles Chong, said the problem has been reported in as many as 30 per cent of flats in some blocks more than 10 years old.

Precincts in Yishun and Tampines will be the first to try the new programme. Work will start once 75 per cent of owners in a selected block vote on upgrading.

The new plan is a relief for housewife Zeenat Kausar, 46, whose bathroom ceiling in her Tampines flat has been leaking for around three years even though it was repaired about seven years earlier.

‘We don’t mind paying as long as they do a good job,’ said Ms Zeenat.

‘If HDB does it, people will feel more reassured, as opposed to finding your own contractor who might disappear after a few years.’

Meanwhile, bigger improvements to older estates will be readjusted to account for residents’ views, which will be gleaned from ‘town hall’ meetings.

Individual precincts - which comprise about eight to 10 blocks each - will be grouped so the cost of big items like tennis courts or skate parks can be shared.

These changes were suggested by residents during a recent series of dialogues on building community ties.

Mr Chong hopes the consultative approach will make residents appreciate the compromises needed when adding community facilities.

He said: ‘By making the process more transparent, hopefully we will get a more sophisticated society that works out issues with the Government.’