http://www.hdb.gov.sg/fi10/fi10296p....8?OpenDocument

Date issued : 19 Dec 2013

The latest survey among HDB residents offered the Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme (SERS) shows continued strong support for the scheme. Among the 628 households (across five projects) who participated in the survey, 87% expressed support for SERS.


2Most surveyed residents were happy that SERS allowed them to continue living in the same estate close to their long-time neighbours. Almost all households surveyed expressed a strong sense of belonging to their town/estate. This affirms one of SERS’ objectives, which is to preserve the close community ties built up over the years as the community moves en bloc to their new flats.


372% of the households surveyed reported no change in their family life after SERS. In fact, another 24% of the households indicated that their family life had improved, attributing it to the new flats and a better living environment for the family.


4The survey findings reaffirmed the popularity of SERS among the residents. This is not surprising as SERS offers many attractive benefits, including a new home with a fresh 99-year lease at a subsidised price, a modern living environment, and financial concessions to ease cash flow and facilitate relocation. The scheme also gives residents the opportunity to continue living near their kin and neighbours, thereby retaining kinship bonds and strengthening community ties.


Strong Support for SERS


5The support for SERS remained strong at 87%. A large proportion of SERS residents also indicated that they were proud of their new homes (87%). Most residents were happy that:


  • SERS offered them a brand new living environment (97%);
  • They were given sufficient time to prepare for the move (94%);
  • They could live in the same estate after their move to the new replacement flats (93%); and
  • The new flat offered under SERS was value for money (91%).
Satisfaction with Improved Living Environment


6The majority of the residents were satisfied with their new living environment. Contributing factors included comprehensive landscaping and greenery (92%), a good view from their flats (91%), and a sense of privacy (86%).


7The majority of residents also indicated that accessibility to facilities had improved after moving to the replacement sites. 66% of the residents saw improved accessibility to exercise areas while 59% saw an improved accessibility to gardens/parks.


Preservation of Family and Community Ties


(A) Family ties

8Overall, 96% of the residents indicated that their present living arrangement was ideal. The majority (96%) also felt that their family lives remained the same or improved after SERS. This was attributed to the new flats as well as the improved living environment. As residents were relocated close to their previous flats, the majority indicated that they did not experience any change in frequency of visits, either by their married children or their parents/parents-in-law after moving to their replacement flats.


(B) Community ties

9At the same time, community ties developed over the years were preserved because the SERS residents moved en bloc to the replacement sites. Some 68% indicated that relationship with their neighbours had either improved or remained the same. Although the average number of neighbours that residents interacted with reduced from 17 to 11 persons after moving, their network was expected to increase over time. 82% expressed the desire to know more neighbours.
10Overall, more than 80% of the interviewees felt that their community life had remained intact or improved. Without having to uproot from their familiar neighbourhood, SERS helped to preserve community ties which were built over the years, resulting in a strong sense of belonging (99%) among residents to their town/estate.


Background of SERS


11SERS is part of the Government's Estate Renewal Strategy for the older public housing estates. Under SERS, the residents involved are given an opportunity to move from their old flats to new and better flats with fresh 99-year leases, served by modern facilities and set in a familiar neighbourhood.

12HDB conducts a biennial survey of residents who were offered SERS. The survey gauges their level of satisfaction and support for SERS. It also determines the extent that SERS has impacted their family and community ties. Overall, the level of support for SERS has ranged from 85% to 95% since the biennial survey first started in 2001.


    • 13The latest survey was conducted from October 2012 to December 2012. It covered five SERS replacement sites (list of sites attached in Annex A (PDF 10KB)). A total of 628 households out of the 2,096 households who moved into their replacement flats from 2007 to 2010 were interviewed. Majority of the households resided in 3-room and 4- room flats (50% and 47% respectively) before SERS, and many subsequently upgraded to bigger replacement flats, with seven in ten now residing in 4-room and 5-room flats (61% and 10% respectively).

Conclusion


14The overall findings showed that SERS continues to garner strong support from residents. On top of bringing extensive benefits to residents living in older estates, SERS also rejuvenates these estates by attracting younger residents and revitalizing the estate’s demographic profile. Overall, SERS has given residents the opportunity to move to new and better flats, and their estates a new lease of life.