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Former homeowners renting HDB flats a 'worrisome trend': Maliki Osman
The Minister of State for National Development says assistance will be "targeted" and is meant to "create the right enabling conditions" for as many Singaporeans as possible to be homeowners.
A general view of HDB rental flats (Photo: Olivia Siong)
SINGAPORE: More families entering the public rental system used to be homeowners, and this is a "worrisome trend", said Minister of State for National Development Maliki Osman in Parliament on Wednesday (Mar 11).
Five years ago, these families used to comprise only 52 per cent of public rental applicants, but the proportion is 59 per cent today, Dr Maliki said at the 2015 Committee of Supply debates. Some of them have enjoyed housing subsidies and cashed out more than once, thus rendering them no longer qualified for subsidised HDB flats, he added.
"In a rising property market, or when one is financially strapped, the temptation to sell is a very real one. But my advice – resist the temptation and don’t cash out. Keep your home; protect your nest egg. Life may be harder in the short-run, but it will work out," Dr Maliki said.
ASSISTANCE WILL BE "TARGETED"
The purpose of offering highly-subsidised public rental flats is to help families that are unable to buy a home immediately, he said. "We will target assistance where it is needed and create the right enabling conditions for as many Singaporeans as possible, including those in the lower income group living in rental flats, to be homeowners, with a stake in this country and its future."
He acknowledged that such an effort is "not easy" for these families and he empathises with their plight, but the ministry, together with community partners, "stand ready to help them get back on their feet again".
To this end, the Government has increased its stock of rental flats from 42,000 in 2017 to 51,000 at present, a figure that will reach 60,000 by 2017, he said. The waiting time to be allocated a public rental flat has been slashed from 21 months in 2008 to 5.5 months now.
The cheapest rental rate still stands at S$26 a month - a price set 35 years ago in 1979, said Dr Maliki,
The Minister of State for National Development says assistance will be "targeted" and is meant to "create the right enabling conditions" for as many Singaporeans as possible to be homeowners.
SINGAPORE: More families entering the public rental system used to be homeowners, and this is a "worrisome trend", said Minister of State for National Development Maliki Osman in Parliament on Wednesday (Mar 11).
Five years ago, these families used to comprise only 52 per cent of public rental applicants, but the proportion is 59 per cent today, Dr Maliki said at the 2015 Committee of Supply debates. Some of them have enjoyed housing subsidies and cashed out more than once, thus rendering them no longer qualified for subsidised HDB flats, he added.
"In a rising property market, or when one is financially strapped, the temptation to sell is a very real one. But my advice – resist the temptation and don’t cash out. Keep your home; protect your nest egg. Life may be harder in the short-run, but it will work out," Dr Maliki said.
ASSISTANCE WILL BE "TARGETED"
The purpose of offering highly-subsidised public rental flats is to help families that are unable to buy a home immediately, he said. "We will target assistance where it is needed and create the right enabling conditions for as many Singaporeans as possible, including those in the lower income group living in rental flats, to be homeowners, with a stake in this country and its future."
He acknowledged that such an effort is "not easy" for these families and he empathises with their plight, but the ministry, together with community partners, "stand ready to help them get back on their feet again".
To this end, the Government has increased its stock of rental flats from 42,000 in 2017 to 51,000 at present, a figure that will reach 60,000 by 2017, he said. The waiting time to be allocated a public rental flat has been slashed from 21 months in 2008 to 5.5 months now.
The cheapest rental rate still stands at S$26 a month - a price set 35 years ago in 1979, said Dr Maliki,
