SINGAPORE: By 2026plea8, Singapore is set to attain “super-aged” status which is defined as a country having at least 21 per cent of its population aged 65 and above.

By 2030, that ratio will go up to one in four citizens.

To prepare for a rapidly ageing society, the government has said it will continue to expand housing options for seniors – and a new model appears to be under experimentation.

The Singapore Land Authority (SLA) in June launched its first tender for “concepts that support silver co-living proposals” at a state property.

The agency said it has observed ongoing demand for co-living spaces. Over the past two years, SLA launched a total of seven state property tenders for co-living use, and attracted more than 70 bids.

“As Singapore’s population matures, industry operators have shared their interest to provide more accommodation options to support independent seniors,” it told CNA.

Hence the tender for 98 Henderson Road – formerly the location of Henderson Primary School – through which SLA hopes to encourage “intergenerational co-living concepts with senior-living accommodation options”.

“This aims to support seniors who may consider co-living facilities on short-term leases which differ from assisted living or community care apartments, as it offers an independent living alternative for seniors who do not require medical care or mobility assistance,” the authority said.

Experts that CNA spoke to welcomed the latest effort to develop new eldercare residential options, amid ever-rising demand.

Current options include Kampung Admiralty, Singapore’s first “retirement kampung” which features public housing for seniors with healthcare and wellness facilities in the same compound.

A second “kampung” at Yew Tee is set to be completed by 2027.

Singapore also has community care apartments that integrate senior-friendly housing design with on-site care and social services.

Unlike Kampung Admiralty, residents at these assisted living apartments must subscribe to a service package that includes the help of a community manager who can arrange basic health checks and 24-hour emergency response.

The keys to the first of such flats, located in Bukit Batok, will be handed over to residents later in 2024.

In the private sector, a handful of assisted living facilities exist, such as the St Bernadette Lifestyle Village where eight to 10 seniors have their own rooms in a private landed house and are provided round-the-clock care and other services.

But more can be done to meet the varied needs of current and future seniors.

“Whether it’s ageing in place, assisted living or even senior co-living, they are all good options to have in Singapore because we will need different housing options to meet different needs (that are) based on age, family conditions or individual preferences,” said Ms Chia Hui Xiang, a researcher from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore (NUS).

Senior co-living models are not unheard of abroad, the experts pointed out.

And very often, those that are successful have "more than just great infrastructure”, said Dr Kelvin Tan, head of the minor in applied ageing studies programme at the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS).

“It’s more about building up a community and having the right programmes to achieve that."

For example Aoi Care, a senior co-living facility south of Tokyo, allows seniors who are more independent to plan their own activities, giving them “a sense of agency”. 

It's also located in the middle of a residential district, with a cafe acting as a “connecting point” for residents from the facility as well as the wider neighbourhood.

At this cafe and other shared spaces within the neighbourhood, people of all ages can interact and partake in joint activities, said Dr Tan. This lets the younger generation learn how to interact with seniors, while also allowing the latter group to feel included.

Agreeingplea8, Ms Janice Chia, founder and managing director of social enterprise Ageing Asia, said livable communities for seniors in other countries typically focus more on ensuring that the “senior community is not an enclosed environment”.

• New
• plea8
• housing
• Intergenerational
• co-living