Tag Archives: Lift Upgrading Programme

The HDB has whittled down the number of blocks that are ineligible for the Lift Upgrading Programme from about 1,000 eight years ago to 200.

Here are some new and cheaper solutions it introduced:

1 BUBBLE LIFTS

These have transparent glass panels for walls.

Compared with conventional lifts that have an enclosed lift shaft, these ’shaftless’ lifts are 25 per cent cheaper and construction time is cut by a few months.

They may not be suitable for places with little shade, as the sun’s glare may be too strong during the day.

2 SMALLER LIFTS

These ‘home lifts’ carry just four people, compared with the standard larger lifts that take 10 to 12.

Their smaller size makes them suitable for low-rise blocks with fewer units and less passenger traffic. But they are still big enough to accommodate a wheelchair. Continue reading →

Families living in about 200 blocks of Housing Board flats may have to get used to using the stairs, as lift upgrading is still not an option for these blocks. Goh Chin Lian visits two such

(Clockwise from top, left) Mr Robert Thuraisingam Karasu, 68, Mr Tan Heng Teck, 69, Mr John Ong, 62, and Mr Vincent, 45, all live on the third level of Block 131, Lorong Ah Soo, which is not eligible for the Lift Upgrading Programme because installing one would severely bust the cost cap of $30,000 per unit. — ST PHOTOS: SAMUEL HE

Block 3 (left) and Block 4 (right) at Queens Road are another two HDB apartment blocks that are currently ineligible for lift upgrading. Only the second, seventh and 11th levels of the 12-storey Block 4 are served by lifts.

Hidden among the HDB blocks in Lorong Ah Soo is a four-storey one with maisonette units.  It has no lifts.

And that status could well stay when the nationwide $5.5 billion Lift Upgrading Programme is wrapped up in 2014.

A total of 200 out of around 5,300 blocks built before 1990 are currently not eligible for the scheme, Senior Minister of State for National Development Grace Fu revealed last month. Continue reading →