SEVERAL hundred Tampines residents are expected to be among the first to have their flats spruced up in a new Housing Board scheme that will see the Government foot most of the bill.

Six blocks in Tampines Street 21 will be upgraded under the Home Improvement Programme (HIP), Minister for National Development Mah Bow Tan announced yesterday.

The work, scheduled to start before the end of the year, will focus on mending weathered concrete and replacing waste pipes.

Once at least 75 per cent of flat owners vote for the upgrading, this essential work is compulsory. But this will be fully paid for by the Government, said Mr Mah, also an MP for Tampines GRC.

The HIP will give residents the choice of opting out of certain upgrades, including repairs to toilets, front doors and rubbish chutes, which will be subsidised at 90 to 95 per cent. The bill to owners would then be between $550 and $1,375 for the full package.

Residents living in the 25- year-old blocks, which house about 650 flats, welcomed the HIP.

'I have water dripping down in the toilet, and I've complained to the town council about it, so I'm glad something is being done,' said real estate agent Maria Mansoor, 43, who lives in a five-room flat with her family of six.

Retiree Choy Wai Han, in her 60s, who lives in a four-room flat with her husband and son, was relieved to hear the news, but wanted to know how much the non-essential upgrades would cost.

Said Madam Choy: 'As long as I can pay in instalments, and the price is reasonable, I'm all for it.'

Currently, about 300,000 flats islandwide are eligible for HIP upgrades.

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