Review Design of Laundry Pole-holders in HDB Blocks to Make Them Safer for Elderly

Ms Joan Pereira asked the Minister for National Development (a) whether he can provide an update on the measures taken to make it safer for HDB residents to dry their laundry in view of our ageing population and strong winds and to protect passers-by from falling laundry poles; and (b) whether there are progressive changes to the design of these laundry pole holders to make them safer.

Mr Speaker, HDB has made improvements to the clothes drying systems in flats over the years. Since 2002, new flats have been fitted with an external three-bar clothes drying rack parallel to the kitchen wall. This eliminates the need for laundry poles to be extended from the window. In addition, new flats are also provided with an internal ceiling mounted clothes drying rack that is sheltered from the rain.

Through the Home Improvement Programme (HIP), HDB has been progressively replacing these pipe sockets that you find in older flats with T-shaped clothes drying racks. These T-shaped racks are designed to support both ends of the laundry poles, so that this reduces the effort required to place the laundry poles onto the racks and minimises the risk of the poles falling even under strong wind conditions.

HDB will continue to review the design of clothes drying racks to make them safer and easier for residents to use.