New three-generation flats to be launched next month

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http://www.straitstimes.com/premium/...month-20130828

New three-generation flats to be launched next month

Published on Aug 28, 2013


THE Housing Board is taking another stab at encouraging multiple generations to live under one roof, with new three-generation (3Gen) flats to be launched at next month's sales exercise in Yishun.

The new flat type contains four bedrooms and three bathrooms, and at 115 sq m, is about 5 sq m larger than current five-room units.

Applicants need to comprise at least a married or courting couple and their parents.

To prevent abuse, rooms cannot be sublet during the five-year minimum occupation period. After that, such flats can be resold in the open market, but only to other eligible multi-generational families.

The 3Gen announcement marks a return of multi-generational flats to the HDB stable, after "granny flats" saw a low take-up rate in 1987. These flats - 289 units spread across Yishun, Bishan and Tampines - ranged from 133 sq m to 165 sq m in size.

In the latest incarnation, 80 3Gen units will be launched.

National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan is unsure if there will be a huge demand, but said he supports its "social objective".

"We really want extended families to live together, for real, and not to game it to get a bigger flat," he added. "If it works, we will build more."

HDB has also tweaked the Multi-Generation Priority Scheme to allow parents of married children to apply for a three-room flat in the same Build-To-Order project.

Previously they were eligible to apply for only studio apartments or two-roomers under this scheme, which sets aside 15 per cent of the corresponding flat supply for them.

Student Denis Tan, 25, applauded the schemes, saying: "We all know Singaporeans are a busy lot. Having family in close proximity really increases interaction, or else it will be only during weekends, if at all."

RACHEL AU-YONG

[reporter2]

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/prem...flats-20130828

Published August 28, 2013

HDB launching multi-generation family flats

By jasmine ng [email protected]


[SINGAPORE] The government will pilot a new type of three-generation flats that can house multi-generation families under one roof.

The 3Gen flats will each have an internal floor area of 115 sq m, and come with four bedrooms and three bathrooms, the Ministry of National Development and the Housing & Development Board (HDB) said yesterday.

This makes such flats slightly bigger than HDB five-room flats, which have an estimated floor area of 110 sq m.

To be eligible for 3Gen flats, applicants must form a multi-generation family comprising a married or courting couple and their parents. Subletting of rooms is not allowed during the five-year minimum-occupation period.

After this period, the flats can only be resold in the open market to other eligible multi-generation families.

The first project of about 80 units of 3Gen flats will be launched in Yishun in next month's Built-to-Order (BTO) exercise.

The government has also revised the multi-generation priority scheme, which will now allow parents to apply for three-room flats if their married children are applying for a two-room or bigger flat in the same BTO exercise.

Currently, the scheme, which aims to allow families to live in the same precinct for mutual care and support, limits parents to a studio apartment or a two-room flat if their married child is applying for a two-room or bigger flat in the same BTO project.

The government will set aside up to 15 per cent of studio apartments, two- and three-room flats in a BTO project for parents applying under this scheme. In total, about 400 pairs of new flats will be offered under the scheme in the BTO exercises next month and in November.