More pre-WWII former govt quarters in Little India to be used for housing

Rezoning signals Govt's intention to have more residents in the area, analyst says

- Ng Keng Gene

Two rows of colonial-era terraced houses in Little India have been set aside for residential use, as Singapore's urban planners look to provide more varied types of housing in the heart of the city.

Located at 44 to 60 Chitty Road, and 42 to 58 Veerasamy Road, the two rows of two-storey terraced houses - each with nine units - were built in 1927 to house government employees. There are no odd-numbered units in either row.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Oct 29 called a tender for structural investigation work to be carried out on the Chitty Road and Veerasamy Road properties to assess what sort of "protection, structural restoration and strengthening" works were needed so these conserved buildings can be used as homes.

The units, which were conserved in 1989 as part of the Little India Historic District, were re-zoned for residential use in July 2024 in an amendment to the Master Plan 2019. They had been marked for commercial use previously.

A URA spokesperson told The Straits Times that the units at 42 to 58 Veerasamy Road were returned to the state in 2006, and the same happened for the units at 44 to 60 Chitty Road in 2012.