Vacant HDB blocks in MacPherson to be used as temporary rental flats
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Blocks 81 to 83 MacPherson Lane were picked for the Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme in 2018.
ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
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SINGAPORE – Three empty Housing Board blocks in MacPherson Lane that are slated for redevelopment will be used as temporary rental housing for families waiting for their new Build-To-Order (BTO) flats.
HDB in February called a tender for works to spruce up Blocks 81 to 83 MacPherson Lane, which were picked for the Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme (Sers) in 2018
Tender documents published on government procurement portal GeBiz state that the works will involve 307 units of two-, three- and four-room flats across the three blocks.
They include the replacing of gates, doors and windows, as well as painting and electrical rewiring. The tender closed on March 14.
HDB told The Straits Times that the three MacPherson Lane blocks will be used for the Parenthood Provisional Housing Scheme (PPHS) until the end of 2028, when the site is required for redevelopment.
PPHS, which was started in 2013, provides temporary rental housing for families awaiting the completion of their BTO flats, with units allocated by ballot. Married couples, with children aged 18 and below, and expectant parents get priority.
HDB has ramped up the supply of such temporary rental housing
It said it has increased the supply of such flats from 800 units in 2021, to about 2,000 units in 2024. It intends to double this to 4,000 units by 2025.
Those eligible for PPHS flats must have a monthly household income of $7,000 or below, and have an unfinished flat from HDB’s sales exercises.
While the blocks in MacPherson Lane could soon house families, the 27 shop units and two eating houses located at those blocks will not reopen for business.
HDB said there are other amenities within a five-minute walk, including Grantral Mall, which houses a supermarket, clinic and foodcourt.
It said the number of applications under PPHS has come down significantly, from more than 20 applicants vying for each available flat in 2021, to about three in 2024.
In 2024, around 1,200 flats were offered across the PPHS selection exercises, with HDB receiving about 3,500 applications from eligible households.
“Given the limited supply of PPHS flats, we will continue to prioritise families with urgent needs. In recent exercises, all married applicants with children, including expectant parents, had a chance to select a PPHS flat,” HDB added.
This is not the first time that a Sers site has been used for interim rental flats. In 2024, HDB announced that about 2,000 units in Tanglin Halt
Over in Jurong, works are under way to refurbish a set of four vacant 21-storey blocks in Yung Kuang Road in Taman Jurong. HDB said it is still reviewing its plans for the blocks, but such sites have been used for PPHS.
Mr Shawn Huang, MP for the Taman Jurong and Jurong Spring wards in Jurong GRC, said upgrades to electrical systems are under way at the blocks – known to architecture buffs and residents in the area as the “diamond blocks” because of the shape they form.
Refurbishing works at the 21-storey Jurong blocks, known to architecture buffs and residents in the area as the “diamond blocks”, include structural repairs and upgrades to electrical and plumbing systems.
ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
HDB said that works to upgrade the unit electrical power supply at Blocks 63 to 66 started in November 2023 and are set to be completed by end-2025.
The works are part of the Electrical Load Upgrading Programme (ELUP), under which HDB enhances the unit electrical power supply for about 1,500 older HDB blocks from 30 amperes to 40 amperes.
National Development Minister Desmond Lee said in May 2023 that HDB targets to complete the ELUP by 2030.
When ST visited the Yung Kuang Road blocks on March 21, a signboard at the site said the works involve the construction of new switch rooms, new police equipment rooms and a new electrical substation.
The four connected blocks, which were built in the 1970s and consist of 456 units, have been used as interim housing and also previously housed migrant workers during the Covid-19 pandemic
While the blocks have been vacant for several years, a handful of shops on the first floor – including a bakery, minimarts, and both traditional Chinese medicine and general practitioner clinics – continue to serve residents from surrounding estates and workers from the nearby industrial areas.
Madam Chua Kee Hua, who has run a mixed-rice stall at the site for over four decades, said she hopes new residents will move in as it would improve her takings and give the area a new lease of life.
The 81-year-old, whose stall shifted from the second floor of Block 66 to the first floor of Block 63 about a decade ago, said in Mandarin: “There’s a lot of history at these blocks – both good and bad – so it’ll be nice if families move in here again, even if they only stay temporarily. At least it’ll be livelier and I will have more customers.”
Madam Chua Kee Hua, who runs a mixed-rice stall in Block 63 Yung Kuang Road, hopes new residents will move into the vacant blocks as it would improve her takings and give the area a new lease of life.
ST PHOTO: WONG YANG
Isabelle Liew is a journalist at The Straits Times. She covers housing issues in Singapore, with a focus on public housing.
Wong Yang is a journalist at The Straits Times, covering housing, property, land use and community stories.
