Retirement housing land lease to be studied

DEVELOPERS here already have the option to build retirement housing villages on any site that is zoned for residential use.

But the Government will study a suggestion by Nominated MP Laurence Wee that those interested in developing such villages be given the option of 60-year land leases – or 30-year leases that can be extended for a further 30-year period.

Senior Minister of State for National Development Grace Fu informed Mr Wee that the Urban Redevelopment Authority had, in fact, already made a Jalan Jurong Kechil site available for sale on a short tenure of 30 years.

‘The developer has the flexibility to develop the site for retirement housing or conventional housing development. The shorter tenure of 30 years allowed for the site was intended to reduce the land costs, which could facilitate retirement housing development,’ she said.

Ms Fu made the point that not only was the option of residential zones already available, but the developers could also build developments targeted at niche markets like the elderly. She said the Housing Board also built studio apartments that are custom-built for elderly living.

Mr Wee had envisaged a development of low-rise condominiums which offers elderly folk a means to live with peers, while staying socially involved to combat loneliness and depression.

Property developer and former Real Estate Developers’ Association of Singapore chief Daniel Teo, 67, said the Government was ‘moving in the right direction’.

He too is keen on developing a retirement village and agreed that longer leases would be more attractive.

He explained that higher building costs and the benefits of economies of scale might mean that having a longer lease would serve a developer better.

Source : Straits Times – 5 Mar 2010