Government to shell out $260m for active seniors enhancement scheme

130,000 households will benefit.

According to a release, Senior Minister of State for National Development Lee Yi Shyan announced the extension of the Enhancement for Active Seniors (EASE) programme to all HDB towns.

The programme is expected to benefit some 130,000 households, and will cost the Government an estimated $260 million.

EASE has been implemented together with the Home Improvement Programme (HIP) since July 2012. In addition, recognising that there are elderly and vulnerable residents who may wish to have the improvements earlier, or whose blocks do not qualify for HIP, HDB also identified two mature towns, Bukit Merah and Kallang/Whampoa, whereby HDB would accept direct applications for EASE.

Requests from residents in other towns due to urgent needs were considered on a case-by-case basis. Since then, about 900 applications have been received in total.

Under EASE, the following improvements can be retrofitted in the flat:

1. Slip-resistant treatment to existing floor tiles of one bathroom/toilet

2. Grab bars within the flat, where technically feasible

3. Ramp(s), where technically feasible, to negotiate level differences in the flat and/or at single step main entrance

Residents have the flexibility to choose any combination of the types of improvements, and pay only for the improvements chosen.

Up to 95% of the cost will be subsidized by the government, and Singapore Citizen households only need to pay between $100 and $250, depending on their flat type if they select all the EASE improvements.