In light of the Housing Development Board’s (HDB) recent clarification that Rochor Centre residents—who will be displaced to make way for the North-South Expressway—can apply for flats in all new HDB launches until the end of 2012, the following is a breakdown the way the Housing Board has handled the situation.
(Rochor Centre residents will receive "fair compensation", said the HDB. image courtesy of Sengkang.)
The announcement
On November 15, the government announced the construction of the southern stretch of the North-South Expressway. To make way, the 34-year old Rochor Centre will be acquired, affecting 567 homes and 187 businesses.
In an attempt to make up to residents who will be moved out, an acquisition package was introduced. It assured displaced residents a new flat near Kallang MRT station (due for completion in 2016), and offered additional discounts for eligible households.
Negative public reaction
Affected residents were dissatisfied with the Kallang flats assigned to them, reasoning that the units are not equivalent replacements for their centrally located Rochor homes. While some were also concerned about the new flats’ proximity to Geylang, a red-light district, others felt indignant that they did not seem to have a choice in the situation.
Writing to the Straits Times (ST) Forum was 23-year old Ms Lim Xin Hui, who asked, “If the residents are going to lose a place they have called home for decades, is it not only appropriate for HDB to, at the very least, offer them more [Build-To-Offer] options, rather than restrict them to a take-it-or-leave-it offer?”
The peace offering
On November 29, HDB clarified that Rochor Centre residents are allowed to apply for all new HDB launches until the end of next year. Should they be unsuccessful, they would be guaranteed a replacement unit at a new Kallang project.
The Board added that valuers from GSK Global would be appointed to ensure fair compensation. The compensation would be based on market valuations as of November 15, and would consider past resale transactions, flat type, orientation, storey height and extent of renovation. Compensation figures will range from an estimated $423,400 to $645,000 for three- and four-room flats.
More complications
Despite this, Rochor Centre residents still felt inadequately compensated. For instance, the compensation would not account for the expected increase in value of the Rochor flats due to the opening of the Bugis MRT interchange.
MP for Moulmein-Kallang GRC (where Rochor Centre is found) Denise Phua has also raised concerns over this issue, promising to work towards a higher sum for affected residents.
Rochor resident Ms Amy Kong, 34, lamented over the construction noise that will ensue the inconvenience of having to move. She questioned, “My parents had intended to retire here due to its proximity to the city centre and its amenities. How do you measure such accessibility?”
HDB’s bottom line
Responding to residents’ worries that the Rochor flats could have achieved a higher value in five years’ time, HDB said this thinking “assumes that the economy and property market continue to appreciate”. It counter-argued that “in five years’ time, the Rochor flats will also be close to 40 years old”, and the new Kallang flats with a 99-year lease “may have the greater potential to appreciate more in value”.
The Board also mentioned that the frozen market compensation and subsidised selling prices of the new Kallang flats “insulates the flat owners at Rochor Centre against market fluctuations in receiving the compensation and in paying for the new flat”.
HDB will inform Rochor flat owners of the compensation amount they can expect in Q3 2012. Those disputing the value can appeal to the Appeals Board (Land Acquisition).
|
|
|
|
|
Related Categories: Buying, HDB
Tags: acquisition, BTO flat, Bugis, compensation, HDB, HDB flats, Housing Development Board, kallang, limited land, Moulmein, North-South Expressway, residents, Rochor Centre, Singapore public homes market
Bookmark:
|
|
|
Comments:
Please input the captcha text :
|