What Is It?
The Community Care Apartment is a public housing type jointly offered by Ministry of National Development (MND), Ministry of Health (MOH), and Housing & Development Board (HDB) that aims to expand the range of housing options available to seniors today. It combines senior-friendly housing with care services that can be scaled according to care needs and social activities to support seniors to age independently in their silver years within the community.
The pilot batch of assisted living flats was first launched in Feb 2021 in Bukit Batok. Named Harmony Village @ Bukit Batok, it consists of 169 units and is expected to be completed in Oct 2024, when residents will start moving in. The picture above is the actual view of the project taken in early Sep 2024.
The Community Care Apartments are designed to enable seniors to live independently and prepare for their future care needs. Each unit has an open layout with an internal floor area of 32 square metres (total floor area of 35 square metres, inclusive of air-con ledge), and comes with senior-friendly fittings. Minimal renovation to no renovation is required.
Each unit comes with pre-installed fittings and senior-friendly design features, including:
- Wide wheelchair-friendly main door, with a built-in bench beside the entrance.
- Easy-to-slide partitions that can separate the living and bedroom spaces for more privacy.
- Built-in wardrobe and cabinets for storage and a furnished kitchen for meal preparation.
- Large wheelchair-accessible bathroom with slip-resistant flooring and grab bars.
- Service yard accessible from the toilet, with clothes drying rack
- There are furnished communal spaces on every floor for residents to catch up with their neighbours, share meals, or engage in social activities.
Please see video walk-through of a Community Care Apartment demo flat below
Basic Service Package
All residents must subscribe to the Basic Service Package, which includes the help of a community manager who will ensure that the following are provided:
- Arranging add-on care and support services (additional charges apply)
- Simple home fixes
- Activities at the communal spaces
- Basic health checks
- 24-hour emergency response
- Key card access to individual flats
Residents also enjoy:
- Access to care services and wellness and social activities
- Facilitated admission to a nearby nursing home (if required)
Optional Services
Residents can choose to add on optional care services depending on their care needs and preferences at an additional cost. These include:
- Shared Caregiving Service, for assistance with activities of daily living such as moving around, transferring (e.g. moving from bed to wheelchair), washing, dressing, eating and using the toilet), as well as medical reminders and assistance with simple errands.
- Social Day Care
- Housekeeping service
- Meal service (home delivery)
- Laundry service
- Medical Escort and Transport (MET) service
The above services will be provided by Atlas Care, a subsidiary under MOH Holdings (MOHH). More details can be found in Atlas Care and the Basic Service Package.
Indicative prices for the optional services:
| Optional Services | Indicative Prices | Applicable for Government Subsidies* |
| Social Day Care | $50 per day | Yes |
| Housekeeping | $20 per hour | No |
| Meal services (delivery) | $5-$7 per meal | No |
| Home Personal Care | $20-$31 per hour | Yes |
| Laundry | $20-$40 per load | No |
| Medical Escort and Transport | $50-$90 per hour | Yes |
| * Subject to assessment of eligibility based on means-test. | ||
There will also be communal spaces on each floor for residents to mingle and build social networks. Residents can use these furnished spaces as extensions of their own living rooms to catch up with their neighbours, share meals, or participate in group activities. They will also be encouraged and guided by the community manager to lead and participate in specially curated programmes at the communal spaces and activity centre within the development.
In coordination with different government agencies, HDB aims to create a built environment conducive for healthy living and active ageing. This is achieved by providing common facilities such as community gardens, fitness stations, and community living rooms, to help seniors maintain an active lifestyle as well as to promote social interactions between residents. HDB will locate amenities nearby, such as Active Ageing Centres, community centres, markets, and hawker centres, for residents’ convenience, where it is feasible.
Described below are the planned amenities for Harmony Village @ Bukit Batok.
Residents of the Community Care Apartments at Bukit Batok will also enjoy convenient access to a variety of retail, leisure, healthcare and public transport amenities that support seniors’ daily needs. These include amenities such as a hawker centre, activity centre, community garden and strolling paths located within the development, which are open to the public and provides opportunities for interaction with the community, as well as the Bukit Batok Polyclinic, Bukit Batok Care Home and wet markets located a short 5- to 10-minute walk away at the Bukit Batok West and Bukit Gombak Neighbourhood Centres. Other amenities located nearby include retail shops at the adjacent Le Quest mixed development, as well as West Mall and Bukit Batok MRT at the Bukit Batok Town Centre.
Amenities within the development include a hawker centre, community garden and fitness station, to allow seniors to live independently in an urban kampung
The Community Care Apartments are priced based on the chosen lease tenure. Seniors have the flexibility to take up a lease ranging from 15 to 35 years (in 5-year increments), as long as it covers the applicant and spouse (if any) until the age of 95.
The price consist mainly of 2 components:
Flat Price
Mode of Payment: Paid fully upfront by cash and/or CPF
The indicative flat prices will be available in the HDB Flat Portal, when Community Care Apartments are available for application at a sales launch.
Basic Service Package
Mode of Payment:
Choose between 2 regular payment plans, paid via cash:
- Payment due every month, with a 1-year security deposit at the start of the lease; or
- Payment due every 3 years
Refer to Atlas Care and the Basic Service Package for the indicative prices of the Basic Service Package.
The table below illustrates the minimum lease period that needs to be taken up for the Community Care Apartment application and as can be seen, it is very much dependent on the age of the youngest applicant or spouse at the point of BTO application. The lease period chosen by an applicant must cover both the applicant and the spouse (if any) until they are at least 95 years old.
| Age of Youngest Applicant and Spouse at Application | Lease Period | |
| Minimum (Years) | Other Options (Years) | |
| 65 to 69 | 30 | 35 |
| 70 to 74 | 25 | 30, 35 |
| 75 to 79 | 20 | 25, 30, 35 |
| > 80 | 15 | 20, 25, 30, 35 |
| Family nucleus and citizenship | Available to families with at least 1 Singapore Citizen applicant; or singles who are Singapore Citizens. |
| Age | Applicant(s) and their spouse (if any) must be 65 or older. The chosen lease must be able to cover the applicant and spouse (if any) until the age of 95. |
| Income ceiling | The average gross monthly household income cannot exceed $14,000. |
| Previous purchase | Those who have previously enjoyed 2 housing subsidies and have bought a Studio Apartment or short-lease 2-room Flexi flat are not eligible. |
| Property ownership | Applicant(s) who own a private property or an HDB flat must dispose of the property within 6 months from collecting keys to the Community Care Apartment. |
More detailed information about eligibility conditions as well as additional amount payable for some applicants can be found here:
You will qualify for priority flat allocation if at least 1 applicant or essential occupier in your household requires permanent assistance with his/ her Activities of Daily Living (ADL).
This means always requiring some assistance with any of the activities below:
- Washing/ showering
- Going to the toilet
- Getting dressed
- Eating
- Walking/ moving around
- Transferring (e.g. moving from bed to a chair or wheelchair and vice versa)
Some units will be set aside for seniors who require priority, and details will be provided at the sales launch.
Seniors who need high medical and nursing care, or have been diagnosed with severe mental illness and/ or loss of mental capacity may not be suitable for the Community Care Apartments, as the available caregiving services are intended for residents with relatively lower care needs.
Please note that priority flat allocation for those with care needs is only applicable to new launches of Community Care Apartments in Build-To-Order (BTO) exercises. It is not available for Community Care Apartments offered as Sale of Balance Flats (SBF).
To apply for joint balloting, you and your family member or friend must take the following steps:
- Each household must have a valid HDB Flat Eligibility (HFE) letter
- Agree to pair up the flat applications
- One household to submit an online flat application first and obtain a registration number
- Then, the second household will indicate in their flat application that they are applying for joint balloting, and provide the registration number of the first household
Community Care Apartments, like all other BTO flats, are purchased through the normal BTO sales launches that take place a few times a year (currently 3 times per year). Interested buyers need to first apply for a HDB Flat Eligibility (HFE) letter before they apply.
Disposal of existing flat
You must finalise the disposal of your interest in the existing flat within 6 months from the date of key collection to your Community Care Apartment.
Disposal of existing private residential property
You must finalise the disposal of your interest in the existing private residential property (local or overseas) within 6 months from the date of key collection to your Community Care Apartment.
Return of Community Care Apartments
A Community Care Apartment cannot be sold on the open market. If you no longer wish to live in it or become ineligible to do so, the flat must be returned to HDB. HDB will then reimburse you the residual value of the balance lease based on straight-line depreciation#.
Note: # For return of the flat after 12 months from key collection. If the return is within 12 months, the reimbursement is the lower of the pro-rated original purchase price (OPP) or 95% of the OPP.
Renting out of Community Care Apartments
You cannot rent out your bedroom or the whole flat.
Minimum Occupation Period (MOP)
As an owner or ex-owner of a Community Care Apartment, you must meet the 5-year wait out period from the date you purchased the Community Care Apartment before you may apply for a flat. These include:
- A flat from HDB
- A resale flat with CPF Housing Grant (excluding the Proximity Housing Grant)
- An Executive Condominium (EC) unit from a property developer
Interest in private property
All owners and occupiers listed in a Community Care Apartment can only invest in private residential property (local or overseas) after the 5-year MOP, but must continue living in the Community Care Apartment.
Read the conditions that apply to flat owners and occupiers.
Sources: HDB, MOH