Reduction in Budget Meal Options for Lower-income Residents with Scrapping of Budget Meal Initiative at HDB Coffee Shops

34 Assoc Prof Terence Ho asked the Minister for National Development in view that HDB coffeeshops are no longer required to offer budget meals (a) whether there will be a reduction in budget meal options available to lower-income residents; (b) whether the Ministry will consider providing financial incentives directly to coffeeshop stallholders to offer budget meals; and (c) whether it is feasible to link funding support to the volume of budget meals purchased.

35 Ms He Ting Ru asked the Minister for National Development (a) what are the specific factors considered in the decision to make the budget meal initiative for HDB coffeeshops no longer mandatory on grounds of the scheme’s sustainability; and (b) what factors will be used to monitor and evaluate the impact of the change.

Mr Chee Hong Tat: Residents have access to a variety of cooked food options at the Housing and Development Board (HDB) coffee shops and hawker centres. The People's Association and community partners have also implemented various support programmes to assist lower-income residents.

Since the introduction of the budget meal initiative in 2018, HDB has been regularly engaging with operators, stallholders and residents to refine the scheme. Operators and stallholders have shared concerns that the budget meal initiative is not sustainable due to rising costs and low take-up rates. Residents have also given feedback that the quality of budget meals is uneven and portion sizes can be inconsistent.

To address these concerns, HDB is offering more flexibility and funding support to operators and stallholders who choose to offer budget meals. From 10 January 2026, budget meals are optional for all HDB coffee shops when they renew their existing tenancies. Operators now have the flexibility to decide whether to participate in the initiative. Existing operators of rental coffee shops who are currently providing budget meals will continue to do so until the end of their current tenancy. Hence, there will not be a sudden change in the number of coffee shops offering budget meals.

To encourage operators to participate in the scheme, HDB has tripled the funding support to operators who offer budget meals, by extending the 5% rental discount from the current one-year period to the full three-year tenancy term.

To ensure that stallholders providing budget meals receive the rental discounts, coffee shop operators are required to pass on the discount in full to their stallholders providing budget meals. The incentive system for budget meal provision is designed to be simple and operationally efficient, so funding support is not linked to the volume of budget meals purchased. Given the stallholders' busy workloads and the wide variation in locations and budget meal demand across different coffee shops, it will be administratively onerous to do so.

To better meet residents' daily needs, HDB will standardise the scope of the budget meal requirement such that operators who offer budget meals have to provide three meal options: (i) an economy rice option consisting of rice with one meat dish and two vegetable dishes, (ii) a halal meal option, and (iii) a breakfast item. HDB also requires budget meals to be full meal options, and operators are not allowed to limit the daily quantity available for purchase.

We believe the new arrangement is fairer and more sustainable for operators, stallholders and consumers. HDB will continue to engage with coffee shop operators and monitor the response to assess whether further adjustments are needed.