The Ministry of National Development (MND) on Thursday said it is committed to helping young couples and lower-income families own homes, while enabling the elderly to age gracefully, reported Channel NewsAsia.
“We will ensure that our housing policies continue to help young couples start a family, uplift the lower-income and vulnerable to a better future, and enable our elderly to age gracefully,” said National Development Minister Lawrence Wong in his ministry’s addendum to President Tony Tan Keng Yam’s address to Parliament.
“We remain committed to help Singaporeans own their homes and keep housing affordable for future generations.”
In fact, it plans to enhance various programmes to make housing more affordable to vulnerable groups.
For instance, the MND will work closely with social agencies to provide holistic support to second-timer public rental families under the Fresh Start Housing Scheme. This includes helping them keep their children in school and finding a job.
The ministry also plans to build more public rental flats.
“We will also look into ways to support other vulnerable groups, including divorcees and low-income singles,” shared Wong, noting that demand for new flats from singles has been strong since they were made available to them in 2013.
For senior citizens, the ministry aims to help them live in safer environments, with new smart-enabled homes. It will also build on schemes like the Two-Room Flexi Scheme and Lease Buyback Scheme to ensure affordability for the elderly.
Meanwhile, the living environment of older estates will also be improved via the Remaking Our Heartland initiative, Home Improvement Programme, Neighbourhood Renewal Programme and Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme.
The ministry will also make greenery more accessible to Singaporeans, with nine in ten households situated within 400m of a park or park connector by 2030, Wong said. The network of green corridors will also increase to 400km from 300km.
“We will activate green spaces and intensify greenery horizontally and vertically, and work with passionate Singaporeans to conserve our biodiversity and celebrate our built heritage,” he added.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
