First voluntary redevelopment projects for HDB flats likely to be launched in first half of 2030s

Straits Times

2 days ago

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National Development Minister Chee Hong Tat said that the public will be consulted on the Vers framework in this term of Government.
SINGAPORE – The Voluntary Early Redevelopment Scheme (Vers) for Housing Board flats will likely begin with a few sites in the first half of the 2030s, said National Development Minister Chee Hong Tat in a long-awaited update on the scheme.
Looking ahead, the Government will focus its efforts on Vers, with no plans for further projects under the Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme (Sers), he told local media outlets in an interview on Aug 5.
Mr Chee also gave an update on Home Improvement Programme II, or HIP II, which refers to the
second round of upgrades that HDB flats will undergo , to last flat owners till the end of their 99-year lease.
Under both Sers and Vers, the Government takes back flats before the end of their 99-year lease to redevelop them and meet housing needs.
While Sers is a compulsory scheme, which gives the Government full discretion on which HDB precincts to redevelop, Vers will involve home owners of selected precincts aged about 70 and up choosing if they want their homes to be acquired by the Government for redevelopment, before their leases run out.
Under Sers – which began in 1995 – home owners are compensated based on the market value of their flats when a project is announced.
The latest Sers project, which is currently ongoing,
involves Blocks 562 to 565 in Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3 and was announced in April 2022.
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The terms of Vers have not been finalised. Mr Chee on Aug 5 set out the timeline for its implementation, in the first significant update since Vers was
announced at the 2018 National Day Rally .
'In this term of government, our aim is to develop and flesh out the Vers framework,' said Mr Chee, who took office in May following the general election. The next election must be called by 2030.
This includes 'setting parameters to identify possible Vers sites, ensuring sufficient homes are ready in time for residents who are involved in Vers to relocate to, and working out a fair package for Vers residents', he said.
'Unlike Sers, which involves precincts with high redevelopment potential, there is less financial upside to Vers, because the flats will be older, and hence the terms will be less generous,' he added.
Mr Chee said that before Vers is launched in the 2030s, the authorities will seek Singaporeans' views and feedback on the scheme.
He noted that Vers is a 'very long-term, very complex policy that will not only have to be fair to the current generation of flat owners, but must also be financially sustainable for future generations'.
Once the public consultation is over, Vers will start 'with a few selected sites', said Mr Chee, adding that this will likely take place in the first half of the 2030s.
'We will continually review our processes as we go along, and progressively scale up Vers by the late 2030s,' he said. 'Our plan is to progressively offer Vers to selected estates in different parts of Singapore.'
Referencing then Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's 2018 rally speech, in which he explained that Vers will need to be implemented in stages, Mr Chee said the redevelopment of Singapore's older estates will have to take place in a 'measured and considered way'.
Several older estates were rapidly built up in the 1970s and 1980s to meet the urgent housing demand then, Mr Chee noted.
Should the leases of flats in these estates be allowed to run their full course, many residents will need to be relocated, and many homes built within a short time in the 2070s and 2080s.
'This will be very disruptive to residents who are staying in these towns,' he said, adding that it will hence be better for redevelopment to take place progressively over two to three decades.
Examples of towns built in the 1970s and 1980s include Marine Parade, Ang Mo Kio and Bedok.
Some of Singapore's oldest flats on 99-year leases were completed as early as in 1962, making them 68 years old in 2030.
These flats are located in areas such as Tanjong Rhu, Tiong Bahru and Dakota.
Block 6 Jalan Batu was completed in 1962, and its 99-year lease began on 1969.
PHOTO: LIANHE WANBAO
Mr Chee said that ideally, new flats for residents of Vers projects will be built not too far from their existing homes.
Their existing precinct can then be redeveloped, and used to build new homes for residents of a subsequent Vers project, he said.
'That's why you need to do this in stages, to avoid this massive disruption to the entire town, especially in towns where there are many, many flats that are about the same age,' said Mr Chee.
Home Improvement Programme II
On HIP II, Mr Chee said works undertaken will be more extensive than the current HIP, which takes place about 30 years after flats are built and includes improvements such as upgraded toilets and repairs to spalling concrete.
He said this is because flats will undergo HIP II at the 60- to 70-year mark. These older units hence require more work.
For instance, said Mr Chee, the
corrosion-resistant repair method that was rolled out for spalling concrete repairs under HIP in 2024 will be adopted 'more extensively for older flats undergoing HIP II'.
New solutions that are not currently in HIP will also be explored for HIP II, he said.
Mr Chee cited new detection technologies, such as using microwave scanning to identify concrete spalling that cannot be seen from the surface, or to narrow down the path of water seepage.
He added that HDB has used this technology in some real-life cases, and is currently analysing results so that it can be used for HIP II.
Mr Chee said HIP II and Vers are not mutually exclusive – meaning flats could undergo HIP II and subsequently be offered Vers.
As Vers projects will be spread out over two to three decades, there may still be a need for flats to undergo HIP II when they are around 60 years old, so they remain liveable until they are redeveloped under Vers – should they come under the scheme, he said.
More details on HIP II will be announced at the next Budget debate in 2026, he added.