Oral Answer by Ministry of National Development on HIP II and VERS

Oct 1, 2018

Question by: Mr Chong Kee Hiong

Mr Chong Kee Hiong: To ask the Minister for National Development 

(a) which repairs, replacements and enhancements will be included in the scope of Home Improvement Programme (HIP) II;

(b) for precincts which vote for HIP II, whether there will be caveats related to the Voluntary Early Redevelopment Scheme (VERS) attached so as to minimise unnecessary expenditure since money has already been spent on HIP II; and

(c) what are the key differences between VERS and the Selective Enbloc Redevelopment Scheme in the aspects of valuation and acquisition pricing.

Question by: Mr Saktiandi Supaat

Mr Saktiandi Supaat: To ask the Minister for National Development 

(a) what kind of upgrades will HDB flats receive under Home Improvement Programme (HIP) II to ensure that the flats are safe and liveable even at that age;

(b) how will the Government ensure that there is sufficient manpower to carry out all the renewal works safely and efficiently;

(c) how often will the Ministry conduct inspections to ensure flats and their amenities remain structurally safe and liveable throughout their lifespan; and

(d) do the HIP I and II upgrades include the older rental flats.

Answer:

The Home Improvement Programme II, or HIP II, is a second round of upgrading for our HDB flats at around the 60th to 70th year mark to keep the flats safe and liveable up to the end of their lease. This will be launched in about 10 years’ time.  

HIP II will be focused on common maintenance issues which occur in ageing flats. We will need to study the specific scope of works, including taking into consideration the condition of our older flats, closer to the launch of HIP II.  As HIP II will be a significant financial commitment for the Government, we will also need to see how to pace the works to take into account fiscal sustainability and the capacity of our construction industry.

Mr Saktiandi asked whether older rental flats are eligible for HIP I and HIP II.  HDB has upgraded older rental flats, including under HIP I. We will similarly upgrade them under HIP II.

Mr Chong highlighted the need to minimise unnecessary expenditure between HIP II and VERS. I agree fully with him. The details of these programmes will need to be worked out, including when we offer HIP II and when the flats are subsequently staged for VERS and redevelopment. We will ensure that there is no wastage of public monies in planning the two programmes.

As for the technical details of valuation and acquisition pricing for VERS, we will need to study this in detail and ensure that we implement VERS in a way that is fiscally sustainable over the long-term. In fact, we had a discussion on this at the last Parliament sitting.

On Mr Saktiandi’s question on safety, we have various regulatory and inspection regimes to ensure that our HDB buildings are structurally safe, both during and after construction. This includes the Periodic Structural Inspection (PSI) regime that ensures that buildings are regularly checked for structural defects. For residential buildings, the PSI requires that the inspection be carried out every 10 years – that’s a nationwide requirement. For older HDB blocks, HDB adopts a more stringent inspection cycle of 5 years. We will ensure that such regimes remain in place throughout the lifespan of our HDB flats, and will also continue to review our policies and benchmark against other high-rise high-density cities.