URA should also preserve original Serangoon Garden houses

I wonder if the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is a little too late in trying to preserve the identity of Serangoon Garden and the low-rise nature of the estate. (“Serangoon Garden, Jalan Kayu, Holland Village to be preserved”; Nov 20).

Monster houses have been built in estates with terrace and semi-detached houses, dwarfing their neighbours and spoiling the overall look and feel of such estates.

The original houses of Serangoon Garden are unusual in design. Over the years, few of these have remained.

When houses change hands, many new owners demolish the entire structure and end up building one of those three-storey monstrosities that look sorely out of place in the neighbourhood.

The URA should put more bite into its Master Plan and legislate that the remaining old houses in Serangoon Garden be preserved. New owners who buy these homes would need to keep them or at least their facade intact.

Otherwise, hardly any of these old houses might be left at the end of the decade.