SINGAPORE — While they expressed a desire to live near their children and grandchildren, residing under one roof in a three-generation (3Gen) flat would be too close for comfort, said a majority of senior citizens at a housing dialogue on Thursday.

Instead, most of the 51 participants favoured higher Central Provident Fund (CPF) housing grants for first-timers buying resale flats near their parents’ homes, with some suggesting that grants be extended to elderly Singaporeans who wish to buy a resale flat nearer to their children — a suggestion the Government said it would “seriously consider”.

The seniors, ranging in age from 44 to 83, were taking part in the third of the Housing Conversations series organised by the Ministry of National Development (MND). The previous two were held with dating couples and married couples. A fourth and final “cross-generational” session will take place in the middle of next month.

Figures released by the MND earlier this month from an ongoing survey carried out in tandem with the Housing Conversations showed 68 per cent of married couples support having more 3Gen flats, while 55 per cent of courting couples shared similar sentiments.

However, 75 per cent of the seniors at the dialogue session were less keen on the idea, concerned that such living arrangements would create friction. “The older and younger generations may have vastly different habits and may not get along under the same roof. It’s idealistic, but ultimately, not the most workable,” said Dr Rosalind Lui, one of the participants.

Commenting on these sentiments, Minister of State (National Development) Desmond Lee, who was present, told reporters: “While one may expect older Singaporeans to want to live with their children in the same flat, I think today’s session shows they are also very practical. (The) MND will seriously consider the suggestions raised by many of the participants today to provide grants for elderly Singaporeans who wish to buy a resale flat nearer to their children.”

Despite the sentiments expressed, the 368 3Gen flats that have been put up for sale since September last year have seen strong demand, with 960 applications so far. Fifty more such flats will be put on offer in the Tampines North Build-To-Order (BTO) project, which will be launched later this year, Mr Lee said.

Another common suggestion was to peg the Additional CPF Housing Grant for first-time resale flat buyers buying flats near their parents to a percentage of the flat price or to increase in tandem with inflation. Currently, first-time resale-flat buyers get an additional S$10,000 — on top of the S$30,000 CPF Housing Grant for all eligible first-timers buying a resale flat — if the flat is near their parents’. Last year, 40 per cent of 1,850 family-based CPF Housing Grant recipients received the additional S$10,000, the MND said.

Mr Mitchell, 64, a participant with three children, felt the grant could be raised. “Any bit goes a long way, especially when a family is just starting and the older generation has retired, and factoring in rising costs everywhere else and the resale levy, S$10,000 just is not enough,” he said.

Participants also favoured increased priority for those applying for BTO flats near their parents’. Currently, the Married Child Priority Scheme (MCPS) provides increased ballot chances, while the Multi-Generation Priority Scheme (MGPS) gives priority allocation to married children and their parents who jointly apply for two separate flats in the same BTO project.

Last year, more than one in five BTO and Sale of Balance Flats applications — out of more than 100,000 applications — were made under the MCPS. The MGPS, which was introduced in 2012 and enhanced last year, has seen 310 pairs of applications since 2012.

However, unlike the courting couples in the first Housing Conversations session, more than half of the seniors wanted absolute priority to be awarded to the applicants.

“If the Government wishes to encourage families to stay together, why shouldn’t they make it as easy as possible? The choice is ultimately the children’s; they can take advantage of it or not,” said Mr Adnan, 55.