Debated in Parliament on 5 Oct 2021.
Mr Murali Pillai asked the Minister for National Development whether he can provide an update on his Ministry’s study of the proposal made in Parliament on 9 July 2018 to convert vacant school sites to retirement villages or assisted living facilities for the aged.
MND and MOH have been working together on plans to develop assisted living facilities to expand the range of housing and care options for our senior citizens.
MND, MOH and HDB have launched the Community Care Apartments (CCAs), a new public housing typology that integrates senior-friendly design features with care services, and facilitates community building through social programmes and communal spaces. The first CCA pilot at Bukit Batok was launched for sale in February 2021 and was well-received by seniors. We are now studying plans for a second pilot and will share more details in due course.
We are also studying private sector models of assisted living and possible sites to pilot them, including vacant school sites. As vacant school sites are not configured to support residential and care needs for seniors, they will require some retrofitting to convert them to private assisted living facilities. We have been evaluating the feasibility of tendering a vacant school site for a purpose, and engaging stakeholders such as developers and healthcare operators on the appropriate parameters for the site, as well as potential market interest from industry players and potential residents.
There are also alternative uses for vacant school sites, such as special education schools, community and welfare institutions, and offices. Hence, each site will need to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the various needs, as well as the suitability of the buildings and site.
We will continue to study different models of retirement housing and assisted living developments to better meet the needs of our senior citizens, and will share more details on our plans when ready.
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