Debated in Parliament on 5 Aug 2014.
Dr Intan Azura Mokhtar asked the Minister for National Development (a) how many Singaporeans aged 55 years and above currently live in 3-room, 4-room and 5-room flats respectively; (b) out of these, how many in each flat type are considered as lower income elderly; and (c) since the Enhanced Lease Buyback Scheme's introduction in February 2013, how many lower income elderly Singaporeans have come on board the scheme.
Madam, there are about 367,000 households with at least one Singaporean flat owner aged 55 years old and above living in 3-room, 4-room and 5-room flats. Of these households, 32% are 3-room flats, 44% are 4-room flats, and 24% are 5-room flats.
As we do not require the flat owners to update their income, HDB does not have the income information requested by the Member.
Since we enhanced the Lease Buyback Scheme in February last year, 326 households have joined the scheme.
I thank the Minister for the reply. I note that, so far, 326 households have joined the enhanced Lease Buyback Scheme. It is still early days yet because the scheme is relatively new. But may I propose that the enhanced Lease Buyback Scheme be extended to flats that are larger than just 3-room flats – for a start, a 4-room flat. This is because we note that about 44% of 367,000 households have elderly who are aged 55 years old and above. For the Ministry to consider.
Madam, I thank the Member for the suggestion. As we know, our seniors have a wide range of needs and that is why when we formulate monetisation options, we try to provide as many options as we can so that the seniors can choose the type of option that best suits them. That is why we have held, and continue to hold, focus group discussions, talking to the targeted beneficiaries about their preferred monetisation schemes. Indeed, they have raised several suggestions, one of which is like what the Member has raised, and we will continue to study them.
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