Blocks 1A to 6A Woodlands Centre Road were on Monday identified for the Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme (SERS) by the Housing and Development Board (HDB).
The Woodlands site, the 78th to benefit from SERS, comprises 147 flats that were completed in 1980. These flats will be 36 years old by the time the residents move to the new replacement flats at Woodlands Drive 70.
HDB will build about 190 units of new two-, three-, four-and five-room flats at Woodlands Drive 70 to re-house the residents affected by the SERS exercise.
The replacement flats are at a convenient location, opposite the Admiralty MRT station and neighbourhood shopping complex Admiralty Place. Amenities such as shops, eating establishments, wet market, community centre and schools are close by.
Within the replacement precinct, there will be recreational facilities for all ages, such as a playground, open plaza and fitness stations.
The replacement flats will be ready in 2016.
Eligible SERS flat owners will be invited to register for their replacement flats in the second quarter of 2013.
197 rental shops, eating houses and offices at Blocks 1A to 6A, and the hawker centre at Block 4A comprising 78 cooked food stalls managed by the National Environment Agency (NEA), will be cleared in tandem with the sold flats.
Eligible shop tenants will be given an ex-gratia payment of S$60,000 per tenancy.
Singaporean shop tenants will be granted a relocation assistance benefit of S$30,000 per tenancy if they are able to find alternative premises to continue their business before the clearance deadline.
All shop tenants will also be given a 10 per cent rental discount on their successful bid for other HDB rental shops or when they take over HDB rental shops through assignment.
To ensure that there will be an adequate number of cooked food stalls to serve the community, NEA will build a replacement hawker centre at Woodlands Town. Details on the proposed location will be announced at a later date.
Hawker stallholders who wish to continue their trade will be allocated a new stall at the replacement centre. Alternatively, they may opt to be allocated alternative vacant stalls at other existing hawker centres, subject to availability. For stallholders who wish to exit, an ex-gratia payment of S$23,000 per tenant will be offered to first-generation stallholders.
The Housing and Development Board says all SERS flat owners, commercial tenants and stallholders will be informed individually.
Information of the replacement flats for the SERS flat owners will also be exhibited from June 28 to July 2 at Marsiling Community Club.
SERS offers residents the unique opportunity to move to a brand new flat with a fresh 99-year lease, better design and modern facilities.
Since SERS was introduced in 1995, the programme has benefited about 36,000 households across 77 sites.
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 25 Jun 2012