Age eligibility for Community Care Apartments lowered from 65 to 55; monthly fees reduced
The qualification age for Community Care Apartments (CCAs) will be lowered from 65 to 55, the Ministry of Health (MOH), the Ministry of National Development (MND) and HDB announced on July 13. The lower eligibility age will work from the October Build-to-Order (BTO) sales exercise.
The changes are “aspect of the government’s wider attempts to increase housing and care options for elders”, the companies said. Seniors aged 55 years of ages who wish to right-size their homes can take into consideration both two-room flexi flats on short lease and CCAs, giving them more choices and time to plan in advance, they included.
In addition, MOH will subsidise components of the BSP that are similar to those presently subsidised under the Long-Term Care programs.
According to MOH, MND and HDB, the BSP will be made extra economical by streamlining services provided. Residents can likewise opt out of an emergency alert device originally supplied under the BSP, further decreasing fees.
First launched in 2021, CCAs are public housing for elders that want to grow older independently in the neighborhood. The property developments feature houses with senior-friendly fittings and also integrate social assistance services.
A sixth CCA project are going to launch in October as component of Toa Payoh West @ Caldecott, a BTO project next to Caldecott MRT Terminal.
In addition, the monthly fundamental service package (BSP) fees for CCAs will be minimized by 18% to 75%.
To date, HDB has started five CCA projects– Harmony Village @ Bukit Batok, Queensway Canopy in Queenstown, Bedok’s Chai Chee Green, Merpati Alcove in Geylang and Sengkang’s Fernvale Plains.
At The Same Time, Christine Sun, chief researcher and planner at Realion (OrangeTee & ETC) Group, notes that the changes can divert some demand away from two-room flexi flats. “This means that other candidates, such as singles, will have more 2-room flexi apartments to choose from, leading to a higher ballot results,” she includes.
Lee Sze Teck, senior director for data analytics at Huttons Asia, indicates that application prices for CCA developments have decreased over past launches. “The application rate was 4.2 when it was initially introduced [at Harmony Village @ Bukit Batok] But it has actually steadily relieved to 0.7 in the last CCA project in Fernvale Plains,” he says. However, he anticipates the new measures to enhance demand for CCAs, with the upcoming launch in Toa Payoh possibly gathering application prices over one.
CCA homeowners are needed to sign up to the BSP, which makes up a suite of care and support services, including 24-hour emergency response and assistance for easy home fixes. Citizens can also add on optional services such as fall surveillance and home cleaning.
