SINGAPORE – The authorities are studying grouping HDB blocks with fewer units together to vote for the Home Improvement Programme (HIP) as a cluster, so that enough households participate in the voting process.
In a written parliamentary reply on Jan 14, National Development Minister Chee Hong Tat said this is one option the authorities are considering to address the challenges faced by blocks with fewer units.
“We understand that under the current voting process, blocks with fewer eligible units may face greater risks of not reaching 75 per cent of votes to proceed with HIP,” he said.
This comes after
two HDB blocks in Tiong Bahru narrowly missed the voting threshold
in November 2025, which disappointed some residents who hoped for improvements to their ageing flats.
Mr Chee said the authorities are
reviewing the voting process for such blocks
, in order to strike a balance between upgrading older flats and respecting the decisions of flat owners.
He was responding to Mr Ang Wei Neng (West Coast-Jurong West GRC), who asked how many HDB blocks had failed to garner enough votes for HIP in the last 10 years, how many were allowed a re-poll, and what was the outcome of each re-poll.
Six HDB blocks were unable to garner the 75 per cent of votes needed to undergo HIP over the last 10 years, Mr Chee said. These were:
one block in Serangoon Avenue 2 in 2017 and three blocks in Lengkong Tiga in 2023
, as well as the two Tiong Bahru blocks.
For the Serangoon and Lengkong Tiga blocks, HDB received appeals from flat owners and the MP for a re-poll.
“After careful review, HDB allowed these blocks to re-poll after about one year from the first poll. All four blocks re-polled successfully for HIP,” he said.
Checks showed the Serangoon block, which was built in 1984, has eight executive flats. The Lengkong Tiga blocks, built in 1988 and 1989, have between 10 and 55 executive flats each.
The two Tiong Bahru blocks – Block 34 Kim Cheng Street and Block 35 Lim Liak Street – had failed to garner enough votes to pass the 75 per cent threshold by a narrow margin of two votes and one vote, respectively.
Block 34 comprises 24 units, while Block 35 has 15 units. They were among 29 blocks in the neighbourhood where residents voted on whether to carry out HIP improvements. Voting for HIP was successful for the other 27 blocks.
All the blocks are four-storey, walk-up flats built in 1949 by Singapore Improvement Trust, the predecessor to HDB.
Residents in the two blocks which were unsuccessful in voting for HIP could get a second chance to vote in 2026, depending on the level of support from residents, Tanjong Pagar GRC MP Foo Cexiang told The Straits Times in December 2025.
He previously said that a “sizeable proportion” of units in the neighbourhood were rented out. Several owners were uncontactable or felt little incentive to support HIP, including those who had just moved in after doing major renovation works.
HIP was launched in 2007 to spruce up older housing estates and resolve common maintenance problems, such as spalling concrete. The programme gets carried out after at least 75 per cent of a block’s eligible Singaporean households have voted for it.
Permanent resident households are not eligible to vote.
Mr Chee said that apart from HIP, HDB supports flat owners who face ceiling leaks and spalling concrete through the Goodwill Repair Assistance scheme, under which HDB subsidises 50 per cent of the repair cost. The remaining cost will be shared equally between the upper- and lower-floor flat owners.
Households with seniors can also apply directly to HDB for the installation of senior-friendly fittings under the Enhancement for Active Seniors programme.