Property developers in Singapore are already planning to develop retirement housing villages in zoned residential sites in the country.
However, the government will first study a suggestion made by Nominated MP Laurence Wee that those interested in developing such retirement villages will be given a 60-year land lease option, or a 30-year lease option that can be extended for another 30 years.
Grace Fu, the Senior Minister of State for National Development, told Mr. Wee that the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) had already put a site in Jalan Jurong Kechil up for sale on a 30-year lease period.
“The developer has the flexibility to develop the site for retirement housing or conventional housing development. The shorter tenure of 30 years allowed for the site was intended to reduce the land costs, which could facilitate retirement housing development,” said Ms. Fu.
She pointed out that the residential site available was not the only option, but property developers could also build projects targeted at niche markets like the elderly. She added that HDB has also built studio apartments that were designed for elderly living.
Mr. Wee imagined low-rise condominium projects that could give the elderly the means to live with peers, while they are involved in social activities to combat loneliness and depression.
Daniel Teo, a property developer and the former chief of REDAS, said that the government is “moving in the right direction”. He, too, is interested in developing retirement villages and agreed that longer leasing periods will be more attractive.