56,000 HDB Flats Built Between 1987 to 1997 to Start Upgrading Works

For those of you who’ve been thinking about getting an upgrade for your older HDB flats, here’s some good news if you qualify for the Home Improvement Programme (HIP).

The flats eligible for HIP consists of HDB flats that were built between 1987 and 1997, and the renovation works for the first batch of flats in the expanded HIP will begin soon.

Progress and History of HIP

The HIP was first introduced in 2007, where HDB aimed to help upgrade and renovate facilities for flats that were built before 1986.

Back then, around 320,000 flats qualified for the HIP. According to HDB, as of now, around 81%, or 259,100 flats, have completed the upgrading scheme. 17%, or around 55,100 flats, are currently in the midst of being upgraded.

Now, 15 years later, the expanded scheme targets relatively older HDB flats which were built between 1987 and 1997.

HIP 2.0

On Sunday (20 February), HDB announced that upgrading works for approximately 56,000 flats that qualify for the expanded HIP will commence first. A total of around 230,000 flats have qualified.

As of 31 March 2021, the government has spent approximately $3.4 billion on improvement works for these flats.

Before the revamping began, residents were given a choice as to whether or not they would like to proceed with the HIP. The surveys, which took place from September to December 2021, saw at least 75% of households agree to partake in the HIP, allowing the scheme to commence.

Enhancements for the expanded HIP include three aspects: essential improvement items, optional items and enhancements for active seniors (EASE).

Essential improvements, which will be provided fully by the government, include repairing spalling concrete or structural cracks, retractable clothes drying racks. These new elements aim to raise public health and safety standards.

Optional items include new entrance doors and gates for individual units. Depending on the type of flat, homeowners will receive up to 95% subsidies for these items.

The elements that comprise EASE include elderly-friendly facilities to be installed in individuals’ homes. These include grab bars, ramps and slip-resistant treatment for toilet floor tiles to increase the safety of homes for the elderly.

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In addition to that, new features have been added to EASE over the past years. For example, ramps for flats that have multi-step entrances at their door was added in December 2018, and since then more than 3,000 home ramps have been installed.

EASE is also available for residents who do not live in blocks that are eligible for HIP, and has attracted over 255,500 applications since 2012. Around 160,200 of the applications came from households who also applied for HIP.

As mentioned by HDB, the government has spent around $102 million on EASE as of March 2021.

Prior to starting the upgrading works, homeowners will be able to see what the new EASE features will look like in their houses through the Mobile @ HDB application.

The application has an augmented reality feature that was introduced in July last year for individuals to have a better view of what the EASE features will look like in their homes. They are also able to edit and adjust the features through the application to see what arrangement is better suited for them.

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