Give seniors aged 75 and above more help in buying smaller flats

I applaud the Housing and Development Board for its successful Two-room Flexi Scheme to help seniors aged 55 and above to right-size their flat, with a shorter lease, to enjoy retirement (More seniors opting for shorter two-room leases; March 6).

The application rate generally has been high, and thus there would be seniors whose applications are unsuccessful, although the HDB does have the Senior Priority Scheme for its sales launches.

Given our high life expectancies as well — 80.4 years for males and 84.9 for females in 2015 — should we not, however, give more priority to seniors aged 75 and above?

This would be helpful in Sale of Balance Flats exercises, as Build-To-Order projects have a three- to four-year waiting period.

The HDB should study the feasibility of this, on top of the Senior Priority Scheme, to further help this group of seniors to right-size, and encourage them to move from mature estates to be near their children in non-mature estates.