PUBLISHED ONJuly 13, 2026 8:16 AMBYSean LerAs part of efforts to make housing and care options more accessible and affordable, the Government on Monday (July 13) announced the lowering of age eligibility for Community Care Apartments (CCAs) from 65 to 55 years old, while reducing the monthly service fees.
The Ministry of Health (MOH), Ministry of National Development (MND), and Housing and Development Board (HDB) said in a joint news release that the "enhancements" are part of broader efforts to expand housing and care options for seniors, alongside the roll-out of Age Well Neighbourhoods and the mainstreaming of shared stay-in caregiving services.
Introduced in 2021, CCAs combine senior-friendly housing and care services to support seniors who wish to age independently in the community.
A total of five CCA projects in Bukit Batok, Queenstown, Bedok, Geylang and Sengkang have been launched to date, with the sixth project to be launched in Toa Payoh in October.
Starting from the upcoming October 2026 Build-To-Order (BTO) sales exercise, seniors who turn 55, and wish to right-size their homes, can consider both two-room Flexi flats on short lease and CCAs.
The agencies said this will allow seniors more housing options to choose from, and more time to plan ahead.
Those who meet the new age eligibility and wish to apply for a CCA in the upcoming sales exercise should apply for a HDB flat eligibility (HFE) letter by September 15.
Meanwhile, those who were aged below 55 when applying for their HLE, but will turn 55 years old before the upcoming sales exercise, must re-apply for a new HFE letter if they wish to apply for a CCA.
Presently, all CCA residents must subscribe to the Basic Service Package (BSP), which provides a range of care and support services.
Taking into account seniors' feedback, the agencies said they will be streamlining the scope of services for CCAs coming online from this year.
According to the agencies, the streamlined package will be more affordable as cost of operations and administration of the BSP will be reduced.
"Social activities for CCA residents will be consolidated and provided via Active Ageing Centre touchpoints located at or near the CCA. This would reduce the need for standalone communal spaces in future CCAs," said MOH, MND and HDB.
The move will allow social programming costs and maintenance costs for standalone communal spaces in future CCAs to be removed from the BSP fees.
This also considers that the activities for most Active Ageing Centres are subsidised, with most provided free-of-charge.
Residents will also be given the option to opt out of the emergency alert device feature. Notwithstanding the option, residents who opt out will continue to have access 24-hour emergency support through CCA staff.
MOH also announced that it will subsidise components of the BSP that are similar to those currently subsidised under the national long-term care schemes, including the support provided by CCA staff and 24/7 emergency response.
The subsidy will be subjected to prevailing means-testing for non-residential long-term care services.
The streamlining of BSP scope and subsidy will see residents of CCAs that were launched before 2026 see reductions of between 18 to 75 per cent to their monthly fees.
CCAs to be launched in or after 2026 will have lower BSP fees with the most streamlined scope of services.
The revised BSP fees and subsidies will be implemented from the second quarter of 2027.
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