Source : Straits Times - 9 Aug 2008
HUNDREDS of households in Commonwealth Drive will be offered new flats as part of the Housing Board’s latest redevelopment exercise.
The 669 households in the 44-year-old precinct near Tanglin Halt can opt to move to a new site across the road when their current homes are ‘developed for residential use’ next year, the HDB announced yesterday.
Mr Baey Yam Keng, the adviser to Tanjong Pagar’s grassroots organisations, told residents of the plans during the Queenstown National Day celebration dinner last night.
Blocks 74 to 80 in Commonwealth Drive will be vacated, and about 730 two- to five-room replacement flats will be built on the other side of the road under the Selective En-bloc Redevelopment Scheme (Sers).
The old blocks have 10 floors. The new ones will go as high as 40 floors.
Eligible flat owners can register for their replacement flats in about a year.
Construction will start at the end of next year and be completed by late 2012 or early 2013.
Sers involves redeveloping selected old blocks of flats, with residents rehoused in new and better units nearby.
Owners are compensated for their homes at the prevailing market rate. They get a 20 per cent discount on their new flats. They are also assured of flats at the new site, so they can continue living with the same neighbours.
If a resident opts to move elsewhere, he can sell the rehousing benefits to an eligible buyer and use the proceeds to buy a resale flat in his preferred location.
This Sers plan will also involve 24 rental shops and two rental eating houses at the affected blocks.
Eligible shop and eating house tenants will get an ex-gratia payment of $60,000 per tenancy and a 10 per cent discount on their successful bids for other HDB rental commercial properties.
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