BEING CONTENTED: Living without the frills

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MORE LIVE IN HDB FLATS; MOST SATISFIED

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SINGAPORE - There are more people living in public housing - 2.92 million in 2008 according to latest figures - and almost all of them are satisfied to be where they are.

In the Housing and Development Board's (HDB) latest Sample Household Survey, over 95 per cent of households said they had no complaints with their flats or neighbourhood.

And these sentiments were shared across households of different flat types, length of stay, tenure of flat, age groups, ethnicity, educational qualifications and household income, said the HDB.

The survey - carried out every five years - showed that the number of Singaporeans and Permanent Residents who are flat dwellers has increased 2.7 per cent since 2003. They now make up 96 per cent of the total population in HDB flats.

Location, transportation network and provision of estate facilities were listed by residents as what they liked most about their environment. What they disliked most were the state of cleanliness and maintenance, and noise

By and large - at 81 per cent - most homeowners were proud of their flats. They also felt that their flats were value for money, with 86 per cent of them telling the HDB so.

The average resident is also now older at 37 years old, compared to 30 years about two decades ago. And longer life expectancy has also resulted in the proportion of residents aged 65 years and above increasing from 5.4 per cent in 1987 to 9.8 per cent in 2008.

Residents are now also better educated too, and a third of them now tertiary-educated. More are also now in white-collar jobs, up from almost 30 per cent a decade ago to almost 35 per cent in 2008.

Reflecting growing affluence, the average HDB household income from work is now $5,680, up from $4,238 five years ago.

Over the next two months, HDB will release more findings on the well-being of the elderly and families, and residents' sense of social well-being. MUSTAFA SHAFAWI

From TODAY, Friday, 19-Feb-2010

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