Assistance Beyond Lift Access Housing Grant for Seniors and Those with Mobility Issues who Live in HDB Flats Lacking Direct Lift Access

11 Mr Ang Wei Neng asked the Minister for National Development whether the Ministry will consider according priority to owners of segmented HDB units that do not have direct access to lifts on the same level and where Lift Upgrading Programme is not feasible, when they apply for BTO flats with direct lift access, especially when they have household members with mobility issues.

12 Ms Ng Ling Ling asked the Minister for National Development for HDB units ineligible for the Lift Upgrading Programme and lacking direct lift access (a) what alternatives, besides the Lift Access Housing Grant (LHG), are available to senior residents with mobility issues who face difficulties moving out of such units due to inability to afford a resale flat and their lowered chances in securing new HDB flats as second-timers; and (b) what is the proportion of units whose residents have tapped on LHG versus the total number of these units in the last three years.

The Minister for National Development (Mr Desmond Lee): Mr Speaker, may I have your permission to take Question Nos 11 and 12 together?

Mr Speaker: Go ahead.

Mr Desmond Lee: Thank you, Sir. Mr Speaker, households facing extenuating circumstances arising from medical or mobility challenges may tap on the Lift Access Housing Grant (LHG) of up to $30,000, to help them move to a new or resale flat with direct lift access.

For seniors with mobility difficulties who face financial difficulties, they can consider purchasing a Community Care Apartment or a 2-room Flexi flat on a shorter lease. Eligible applicants enjoy priority under the Senior Priority Scheme, including those who have already bought two subsidised flats in the past. In the last five years, second- and nth-timer seniors who booked 2-room Flexi flats or Community Care Apartments were able to do so within two tries on average.

In addition to the LHG, of up to $30,000 for families and $15,000 for singles, seniors who right-size to a 3-room or smaller Housing and Development Board (HDB) flat and top up the proceeds from the sale of their existing property into their Central Provident Fund (CPF) Retirement Account, can additionally benefit from the Silver Housing Bonus of up to $30,000. This will help them to secure a suitable flat to meet their mobility needs and benefit from additional cash for retirement.

Since the implementation of LHG in 2020, HDB has received 67 complete applications. Of these, 51 applications were approved, while nine are currently under evaluation. Successful applicants can use the LHG to buy a flat directly from HDB, which includes a 2-room Flexi flat on a shorter lease or a Community Care Apartment or a flat from the resale market, depending on their budget and needs.

I encourage households with pressing accessibility needs to approach HDB for assistance, so that HDB can better understand their needs and explore suitable options with them.

On Mr Ang's suggestion, I thank him for it and will consider his ideas, together with those of other Members', as we continually review our schemes to help seniors and others with mobility challenges access their homes.

Mr Speaker: Mr Ang.

Mr Ang Wei Neng (West Coast): Thank you, Speaker, Sir. I thank the Minister for the comprehensive reply. I want to ask a supplementary question. Sir, how many units of segmented units are there in Singapore? It was answered in Parliament that about less than hundred blocks still have segmented units. So, in Nanyang alone, there are 224 units in 14 blocks that have no direct lift access on the same level. When these original owners bought their flats about 30 years ago, they had really treasured the privacy over having lift access; but today, when they are old, they really treasure the direct lift access possibility over the privacy that they are used to have.

But when they want to sell the flat, they have two problems: one is that resale values of these segmented flats are lower; and two, they take a longer time to sell. And what is most important is that when they try to apply for another Build-To-Order (BTO) flat that has lift access, they are considered as second-timers and they have very little success in getting a flat. For example, one of my residents told me he has balloted for three times and could not get a BTO flat that has direct lift access. So, I really urge the Minister to consider giving them priority, especially to those owners who have family members with mobility issues.

Mr Desmond Lee: Sir, I do not have the exact number of segmented units without lift access on hand, maybe the Member can file a separate Parliamentary Question.

But when the Lift Upgrading Programme (LUP) first started in 2001, we had some 5,300 HDB blocks without full lift access. Today, almost all, in excess of 5,000 blocks of flats, have undergone LUP, with some 140 blocks left that have not undergone LUP. And so we will continue to find technical ways, including new tactical methods, to try to help these residents. But we will also continue to refine the scheme, as I assured the Member earlier.

Mr Speaker: Ms Ng Ling Ling.

Ms Ng Ling Ling (Ang Mo Kio): Thank you, Speaker, and I thank the Minister for sharing about the comprehensive efforts of the HDB to try and help residents who are in this segment. I have a group of residents with this issue. I have about 10 out of 142 blocks that are under the care of Jalan Kayu, that have got the lift access issue, so it is less than 10%.

In the last five years, in every house visit to them, I have explained HDB schemes, including the LHG to each of these residents. But five years since, none have actually used the grants and they are getting older and older each year. And so, as I distil the reasons why they are not moving off, it all comes to the core reason that they want to age in place, in a flat that they have bought about 30 years ago to set up their family, to raise their family, and it is a very important place of memories for them. They can afford to stay in the flat continually, except for the lack of lift access.

So, I have three supplementary questions. One is, when was the last time a technical and cost assessment was done for building lift direct access in such blocks? And two, are there grounds to justify a higher subsidy for these blocks that are stuck with this problem? Because I understand that the quantum for a potential lift upgrade is many, many times compared to the usual flats, and thus, the co-payment for the residents is also very hefty, and that is one of the reasons why HDB is also hesitant to do that. But my question is, if we have a year of Budget surplus, is it something that we can consider, that is, a higher subsidy, so that the co-payment is affordable, like other units with LUP?

My last question is, some of my younger grassroots volunteers have been very innovative in thinking of unconventional ways of solving some problems – not for all the blocks, but for one or two blocks, they have pointed out to me a possible way of granting the lift access without having to build a lift for every floor. And my question is whether HDB has an innovation team that a grassroots advisor, like me, can work with, to explore different options besides building that lift access? So, these are my three questions.

Mr Desmond Lee: I thank the Member for speaking up for her residents. Indeed, my colleagues at HDB continue to find ways, both technical as well as programmatic enhancements, like the LHG, to help residents with mobility difficulties and for whom lift access is important. I would encourage the Member to refer her residents to my colleagues at the HDB branch office, who will work with each family individually to understand their needs and concerns, and to try to find ways to better help them.

Indeed, again, if the Member has got volunteers or residents with good technical ideas, we welcome them to approach us, to share them with my colleagues and we will study them carefully.

But I would just assure the Member that over the years, as the number of blocks that have not undergone LUP get smaller and smaller, my colleagues continue to find different ways, both lift as well as non-lift solutions, to try to bring lift access to those blocks, but for the remaining 140 blocks, some of them face significant technical challenges. Some of them require a significant cost, well beyond what is provided to all the other households to get the lift – sometimes in excess of well over $100,000 per unit even. But we continue to find effective ways to try to help these families.

For instance, for some blocks of flats in the past, we could not do a lift because there were height restrictions, because they were in areas near flight path. And so we put in machine roomless lifts, in order to address the needs of the residents there. For some blocks, we had some smaller lifts to be able to provide a cost effective and meaningful solution for these residents.

We have also tried things, like vertical platform lifts and pneumatic vacuum elevators. We experimented with them in non-residential blocks. But in 2017, after trying a pilot for these different methods, we decided not to proceed because they were not effective. We also tried long bridges, some of these might end up requiring access through residents' balconies. But we have been prepared to try those in order to give lift access. There were also half-landing solutions. We have also experimented with wheelchair lifters and portable stair climbers, some of which residents have tried and they felt very uncomfortable with it. But we continue to try, do hackathons and try to find new ways, work with research agencies to try to find solutions for residents.

We will continue to work on this, but as I have said earlier, if there are specific residents with pressing mobility needs, whether arising from health or other causes, please refer them to us.

Mr Speaker: Mr Liang Eng Hwa.

Mr Liang Eng Hwa (Bukit Panjang): Sir, I just want to further ask the Minister: there could be blocks where it is segmented and some parts of the blocks are suitable for lift upgrading constructions, to put in the lift shaft – but some parts of the blocks are not. My first supplementary question to the Minister is whether HDB would still go ahead if enough units within the block can get lift access, even though there are some units that cannot? Would HDB still go ahead with that?

My second supplementary question is, at the end of the day we are left with 140 blocks. Is HDB prepared to move the subsidy funding more, just so that more of the remaining blocks can get qualified for the LUP? So, if it is a funding problem, can we look at adjusting the funding subsidies?

Mr Desmond Lee: On the Member's first question, I invite him to approach HDB, if he has certain blocks that are partly segmented and partly not, and he thinks that he would like to go ahead. We can study it very carefully to see whether we proceed to offer LUP for those blocks.

On the issue of funding, we look at what is cost effective. We lean in favour of trying to help residents with access where possible. And that is why out of 5,300 blocks at the start of the exercise in 2001, we now have 140; and we continue to try to find ways to help.