Parents may get incentives for joining kids in non-mature estates: Khaw

View of Punggol estate as seen from a studio apartment in Punggol Walk. The Housing Board may soon "incentivise" parents to move out of mature estates, so they can join their children in new ones. -- PHOTO: BERITA HARIAN FILE 
View of Punggol estate as seen from a studio apartment in Punggol Walk. The Housing Board may soon "incentivise" parents to move out of mature estates, so they can join their children in new ones. -- PHOTO: BERITA HARIAN FILE 

SINGAPORE - The Housing Board may soon "incentivise" parents to move out of mature estates, so they can join their children in new ones.

Such a move would free up resale flats for children who wish to live near their parents in mature towns, said Minister for National Development Khaw Boon Wan. He did not give details of the possible incentives, but pledged that his ministry would look at how to make it a practical and fair policy.

To further encourage family bonding, Mr Khaw said he would also build more 3Gen flats in mature estates, and look to the Selective En-bloc Redevelopment Scheme (Sers) to free up space there.

Separately, Mr Khaw blogged on Wednesday about the results of a door-to-door survey his ministry had commissioned, covering 2,000 people.

More than eight in 10 young unmarried couples wish to stay near or with their parents, he said. The reality was that only about half could do so.

The results show that the "the state of family bonding in Singapore is healthy and strong", he said. "They also show that there is room for us to do more to help extended families live nearer."

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