More than 36,000 households living in HDB blocks across Singapore will benefit from the upgrading works to be implemented under the latest batch of the Neighbourhood Renewal Programme (NRP) and Silver Upgrading Programme (SUP), said Minister for National Development Desmond Lee today, speaking at the Community Build Day event at Toa Payoh N1 Neighbourhood Park.
The NRP work in 17 HDB neighbourhoods — at a cost of SGD 165 million — is expected to benefit 25,000 households. The projects are located island-wide, including in Bukit Panjang, Sembawang, and Sengkang.
“Additionally, for the small number of HDB residents who currently do not have direct lift access to their flats, HDB will increase the Lift Access Housing Grant (LHG) by almost threefold, to help seniors and residents with mobility challenges to purchase a new or resale HDB flat with direct lift access,” said an HDB media release today.
A CNA report said that from today, the lift access grant would be raised from a maximum of SGD 30,000 to SGD 80,000 for families, and from a maximum of SGD 15,000 to SGD 40,000 for singles.
The news website quoted Desmond Lee as saying, “We hope that this significant enhancement will make it easier for even more households with mobility challenges to move to a new home that can better support their accessibility needs.”
On his own Facebook page, the minister wrote today: “For residents from some precincts which had undergone upgrading in the past and do not qualify for NRP, they can still benefit from senior-friendly enhancements under SUP. We first rolled out SUP in four precincts in Chong Boon within Ang Mo Kio in August 2024. Residents can look forward to new features such as a 3-Generation fitness trail, barrier-free access ramps and a therapeutic garden when they are completed in 2H2026.”
Details of blocks or projects selected for 16th batch of NRP
- Blks 165 to 173, 166A (MSCP), 172A (MSCP) Hougang Avenue 1
- Blks 916 to 918, 918A (pavilion), 919, 919A (MSCP), 920 to 923, 923A (pavilion), 924, 925, 925A (MSCP), 926 to 931, 931A (MSCP) Hougang Street 91/Avenue 4/Avenue 9
- Blks 288, 289, 290, 291, 292, 293, 290A (MSCP) Bishan Street 22 / 24
- Blks 150 to 152, 154 to 160, 162 to 164, 151A (pavilion), 154A (MSCP), 158A (MSCP), 160A (MSCP) Jalan Teck Whye
- Blks 760, 760A (pavilion), 761, 761A (MSCP), 762 to 765, 765A (MSCP), 766 to 768, 768A (pavilion), 769, 769A (MSCP), 770 to 772, 772A (MSCP), 773 to 775, 775A (pavilion) Bedok Reservoir View & Blk 140 Bedok North Avenue 2
- Blks 501 to 532, 505A (MSCP), 510A (MSCP), 513A (MSCP), 517A (MSCP), 518A (MSCP), 521A (MSCP), 525A (MSCP), 529A (MSCP) Jelapang Road
- Blks 58, 59 (pavilion), 59A to 59C, 60, 60A (MSCP) Geylang Bahru and Blk 104 Whampoa Drive and Blks 16 to 19, 19A (MSCP), 19B (pavilion) Jalan Tenteram
- Blks 290A to 290G, 290H (MSCP), 291A to 291E, 291F (MSCP) Bukit Batok East Avenue 3/Street 24
- Blks 1, 3, 3A (pavilion), 5, 7, 9, 11, 11A (MSCP) Pine Close and Blks 28, 30, 30A (pavilion) 56, 56A (MSCP) Cassia Crescent
- Blks 631 to 643, 632A Choa Chu Kang North 6/Street 64
- Blks 115A, 115B, 115C Yishun Ring Road
- Blks 721 to 747, 721A (MSCP), 722A (pavilion), 728A (MSCP), 732A (pavilion), 736A (pavilion), 737A (MSCP), 739A (MSCP), 740A (pavilion), 744A (pavilion), 747A (MSCP) Woodlands Avenue 6/Circle
- Blks 619 to 623, 624A, 624B, 625A, 625B, 626, 627, 628A, 628B, 629 to 631, 659 to 664, 622A (MSCP), 626A (MSCP), 630A (MSCP), 661A (MSCP) Woodlands Drive 52/Avenue 6/Ring Road
- Blks 123, 123A, 123B, 123C, 123D, 123E, 124, 124A, 124B, 124C, 124D (MSCP), 124E (Pavilion), 125, 126, 126A (MSCP), 127, 128, 128A (pavilion), 129 to 133, 133A (MSCP), 134, 135, 135A (pavilion), 136 to 141 Rivervale Street/Drive
- Blks 735, 735A (pavilion), 736 to 742, 742A (MSCP) Tampines Street 72
- Blks 37 to 40, 37A (MSCP), 39A (pavilion) Cambridge Road
- Blks 687 to 696, 691A (MSCP), 692A (MSCP) Jurong West Central 1
Source: CNA
Locations of the 12 new precincts selected for SUP
- Blks 101 to 103 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3
- Blks 108 to 111 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4
- Blks 119 to 128 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3/6
- Blks 129 to 134, 130A (MSCP), 130B (pavilion), 132A (MSCP) Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3/Street 12
- Blks 254 to 255, 255A (MSCP) Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4
- Blks 256 to 258, 256A (MSCP) Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4
- Blks 1, 3 to 6, 1A (pavilion), 3A (MSCP), 5A (pavilion) Telok Blangah Crescent
- Blks 1 to 7, 1A (pavilion), 3A (pavilion) Everton Park
- Blks 13, 15, 16, 18 to 21, 23, 24, 21A (pavilion), 23A (MSCP) Telok Blangah Crescent
- Blks 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46, 48, 50, 28A (MSCP), 42A (pavilion), 44A (MSCP), 48A (pavilion) Beo Cresent, Havelock Road, Jalan Bukit Ho Swee, Jalan Klinik
- Blks 101 to 106, 104A (MSCP) Henderson Crescent
- Blks 116 to 120, 118A (pavilion), 120A (MSCP) Lorong 1/2 Toa Payoh
Source: CNA
NRP improvements extended to HDB blocks built up to 1999
Explaining how NRP works, the HDB media release said: “Introduced in August 2007, NRP carries out improvements at the block and precinct levels for HDB blocks built up to 1995. With all eligible blocks built up to 1995 already selected for the NRP, the programme has been extended to include blocks built up to 1999. The 17 projects selected will be the first batch of NRP projects to benefit from this extension, and the 16th batch of NRP projects since NRP was first introduced.”
The improvement items for each [NRP] project are tailored based on residents’ feedback on the features they hope to see in their neighbourhoods. Examples of block-level improvements under the NRP include the provision of Residents’ Corners and seating areas in the common spaces within the block. Precinct-level improvements could include drop-off porches, covered linkways, fitness corners, playgrounds, and landscaping.
HDB media release
These NRP works “are fully funded by the [Singapore] Government” and are implemented by the Town Councils.
Since 2007, the Singapore Government had spent more than SGD 1.5 billion on 229 NRP projects across the past 15 batches, said the HDB media release.
“As of 31 March 2025, 131 projects benefitting about 187,000 households have been completed, while the remaining 98 projects benefitting over 103,000 households are at different stages of implementation (e.g. public engagement, tender, and construction),” said HDB.
SUP benefits HDB blocks that do not qualify for NRP
Residents of HDB blocks that had already undergone NRP improvements would not qualify for further benefits under the renewal programme, but they “can still benefit from senior-friendly enhancements under SUP”, said HDB.
The media release said: “SUP was first rolled out in four precincts in Chong Boon within Ang Mo Kio town, benefiting about 3,400 households, in 2024. HDB worked with our design consultants and relevant partners to seek residents’ feedback through a Community Improvement Walk in August 2024, before reviewing the SUP design for the Chong Boon precincts.”
It added: “The final SUP design includes features that promote residents’ well-being, encourage more active lifestyles, and enhance accessibility around the estate. These include a therapeutic garden, 3-Generation fitness trail with exercise equipment suitable for seniors, new barrier-free access ramps, rest stops with seating along linkways, and wayfinding features such as signages with pictograms at the community deck.”
LHG fills the gap for residents not yet benefited by LUP
The Lift Upgrading Programme (LUP) was introduced by HDB in 2001 to retrofit older blocks. All HDB blocks built since the mid-1990s “have been built with lifts serving every floor”, but most of the older ones “were designed with lifts that stopped only on certain floors, due to the need to build cost-efficient homes quickly to house Singapore’s growing population then”.
The retrofitting programme gave these older blocks lifts that stopped at every floor, improving accessibility and mobility for residents.
“Since [its introduction], HDB has implemented the LUP in more than 5,000 blocks that were originally without full lift access. Today, around 99 per cent of all HDB blocks have direct lift access on every floor. For the remaining blocks, HDB continues to explore possible ways to enhance the accessibility of these blocks,” said the media release.
For residents who have “more urgent need for direct lift access due to their family members’ medical or mobility conditions”, the housing board “introduced the LHG in 2020 to help them purchase a new or resale HDB flat with direct lift access”.
