The Ministry of the Interior held a press conference after the ministry meeting on the 22nd to explain the "processing status of the old residence life extension program." Deputy Minister Dong Jianhong said that it has been launched in 21 counties and cities, with more than 26,000 application consultations, and 1,359 cases accepted, including 1,285 cases for Tuotian residences and 74 cases for apartments. Current application cases for apartment buildings and rooftops include adding lifting equipment, exterior wall repairs, roof insulation and waterproofing, indoor barrier-free and floor leveling. The applied subsidy funds range from 1 million yuan to more than 11 million yuan, accounting for about 45% to 62% of the total funds.
The Ministry of the Interior explained that the central and local service groups have held nearly 100 information sessions on life extension communities and living rooms in old houses across the country, with a total of 15,000 participants. Compared with urban renewal, the life extension of old houses provides a faster way to improve the living environment. As long as one repair item is repaired in the shared space of the apartment, you can apply for subsidies.
The Ministry of the Interior stated that within just a few months of opening for acceptance, there have been 74 applications for apartments that require the integration of owner opinions, showing that people are gradually paying attention to shared spaces, building exteriors and home safety maintenance, and taking action. At present, many communities have started or completed consensus building and prepared application documents under the guidance of the service team.
The Ministry of the Interior calls on people living in elderly buildings to start by understanding the earthquake resistance of their homes, make good use of old home life extension subsidies, and gradually improve their living environment.
Regarding the follow-up plan, the Ministry of Interior pointed out that Taipei City (the second wave is limited to applications for apartment buildings only), Yilan County, Chiayi City, Hsinchu County, Hsinchu City, Changhua County, Nantou County, Yunlin County, Chiayi County, Pingtung County, Taitung County, Hualien County, Lianjiang County and Penghu County are continuing to accept applications. The Ministry of the Interior will subsequently review the allocation of funds based on the review and approval of cases by local governments this year. It is estimated that counties and cities will successively announce the second level of acceptance from January to May next year at the earliest.
The Ministry of the Interior emphasized that the public is encouraged to complete the seismic assessment of the building and confirm the repair needs in advance according to the condition of the building, and choose the appropriate improvement path with government subsidy support and self-funding. In addition, people can also apply for the "Private Residential Seismic Weak Floor Reinforcement Subsidy" from the Ministry of the Interior to enhance the seismic resistance of the building by adding structural components and other methods. The maximum subsidy for each case is 45% of the reinforcement cost, with a cap of NT$4.5 million. If the house is assessed to be potentially dangerous, the subsidy rate can be increased to up to 85% to reduce the burden of building reinforcement expenditures.
For information on the "Old House Life Extension Functional Renovation Plan" and the list of 32 dangerous old structure safety performance assessment agencies, the Ministry of the Interior stated that you can go to the "Urban Renewal Portal - Old House Life Extension Area" for inquiries; if you want to know more about seismic weak layer reinforcement, you can go to the "Private Buildings Seismic Weak Layer Reinforcement Information Network", or call the consultation hotline (02) 6630-0237 and contact the local municipality, county (city) government.
