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SINGAPORE \u2013 Those aged 55 or older will be able to apply for assisted living flats, also known as community care apartments<\/span><\/a>, from the Build-To-Order (BTO) sales exercise in October.<\/p>\n Currently, seniors must be at least 65 years old to buy such flats, which come with senior-friendly fittings and a package of care services which costs about $159 a month.<\/p>\n Fees for these services, which residents must subscribe to, will be reduced by between 18 per cent and 75 per cent.<\/p>\n The changes are part of efforts to expand housing and care options for seniors, alongside the roll-out of Age Well Neighbourhoods<\/span><\/a>, said the Health Ministry, National Development Ministry and Housing Board said in a joint statement on July 13.<\/p>\n The lower age requirement means that from age 55, people can apply for either a two-room flexi flat on a short lease or a community care apartment \u2013 giving those who wish to right-size their homes more options to choose from.<\/p>\n The lower eligibility age, which will also apply to community care apartments in Sale of Balance Flat exercises, will also give seniors more time to plan ahead, the statement said.<\/p>\n To date, HDB has launched five projects with such assisted living flats in Bukit Batok, Queenstown, Bedok, Geylang and Sengkang.<\/p>\n In October, about 260 such flats will be on offer in Toa Payoh<\/span><\/a> next to Caldecott MRT station.<\/p>\n To make the basic service package more affordable, the scope of services in community care apartments will be streamlined from 2026.<\/p>\n For apartments already launched for sale, this means monthly fees that are between 18 and 75 per cent cheaper, the statement said. Apartments launched this year or later will have lower fees with the \u201cmost streamlined\u201d scope of services.<\/p>\n For example, social activities will be held in active ageing centres at or nearby the blocks, rather than standalone communal spaces within the building. Such activities are typically subsidised and most are free.<\/p>\n The cost of running these activities and maintaining communal spaces will be removed from the basic package.<\/p>\n \u201cThis would reduce the need for standalone communal spaces in future community care apartments,\u201d the statement added.<\/p>\n To further lower fees, an emergency alert device will be made optional. Residents who decide not to have the device will continue to have 24-hour emergency support.<\/p>\n Other services that continue to be offered under the basic package include assistance with simple home fixes, letter-reading and interpreting bills.<\/p>\n MOH will also subsidise parts of the package, similar to what is currently subsidised under national long-term care schemes. This includes support by the community care apartment staff.<\/p>\n Those who cannot perform at least one activity of daily living, such as bathing, going to the toilet and eating, will be eligible for this subsidy. It will be means-tested based on monthly per capita household income.<\/p>\n \u201cThe basic service package fees will be reviewed periodically to account for seniors\u2019 care needs, inflation and changes to operational costs,\u201d the statement added.<\/p>\n The revised fees and subsidies will kick in from the second quarter of 2027.<\/p>\n According to operator Vanguard Healthcare\u2019s website, the monthly basic fees for Harmony Village @ Bukit Batok \u2013 the only completed project with community care apartments at present \u2013 will be reduced from $159 to between $130 and $140.<\/p>\n Over a 45-year lease, residents would need to have an estimated $167,000 in cash for these service fees, down from $215,000.<\/p>\n The last BTO project with community care apartments, Fernvale Plains in Sengkang in October 2025<\/span><\/a>, was undersubscribed, with 152 applicants for 207 units.<\/p>\n Lee Sze Teck, senior director of data analytics at real estate agency Huttons Asia, said the widened eligibility could increase demand for community care apartments.<\/p>\n He noted that the application rate for the first such project, Harmony Village @ Bukit Batok, was 4.2, and has since eased to 0.7 in Fernvale Plains.<\/p>\n Christine Sun, chief researcher and strategist at property firm Realion (OrangeTee & ETC) Group, said there has been a declining number of applicants, dropping from 706 in 2021 to 152 in 2025.<\/p>\n In the upcoming BTO sales exercise in October, singles could have a higher chance of balloting for a two-room flexi flat if demand from seniors is diverted to community care apartments, she added.<\/p>\n Rosemary Retnam Nicholas Gerard, who has been living in Harmony Village @ Bukit Batok since 2025, said the reduced fees would make it more affordable for her son to support her. Her son has been paying about $180 a month for the basic package.<\/p>\n \u201cI was a bit apprehensive (about living in a community care apartment) at first, but now I\u2019m very happy and have made many friends,\u201d said the 76-year-old.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n SINGAPORE \u2013 Those aged 55 or older will be able to apply for assisted living flats, also known as community care apartments, from the Build-To-Order…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":68402,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2611],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-headlines","wpcat-2611-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=68401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68401\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/68402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=68401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=68401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=68401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Cheaper service fees<\/h2>\n
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