ONE tenant of a public rental flat installed a split-airconditioner in her flat, thanks to her children. Another asked for a season car-parking label. Still other tenants of such heavily-subsidised rental flats - meant as a “final safety net” for the needy with no other options - have been known to sublet their units. The Housing and Development Board (HDB) will not hesitate to clamp down on such...
HDB News
Lease Buyback Scheme to benefit the elderly Some 25,000 households - or 70 per cent of elderly two and three-room flat owners - will qualify for the Housing and Development Board’s (HDB) new Lease Buyback Scheme (LBS) that kicks off next year. The HDB will buy back the tail end of the flat’s lease from elderly owners at market value, so that they can “unlock” the value of their flat. The lessee...
National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan assured Singaporeans in Parliament on Thursday that compulsory acquisition of a HDB flat is the "absolute last resort" – a serious decision carried out only after all other measures have been exhausted. Mr Mah said this when he gave what he called "the full picture of Madam Judy Mitchell" – whose plight was highlighted by her MP Ong Kian Min of Tampines GRC...
Some 25,000 households, or 70 per cent, of two- and three-room flat owners will benefit from HDB's new Lease Buyback Scheme. Under this scheme, the Housing Board will buy back the tail end of the flat lease from elderly owners, to help them unlock the value from their flat. Details were announced by National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan in his speech Low income elderly households can sign up for the...
All 14 town councils run by the People's Action Party (PAP) will not be increasing their Service and Conservancy (S&C) charges this year. The freeze applies to both residential and commercial properties, and is aimed at lessening the financial burden of the residents due to inflation. The town councils announced their decision on Thursday in response to the government's call for town councils to hold...
Qingdao Construction Group Corporation has won a Housing and Development Board (HDB) tender to build public housing flats at a site in Bishan Street 24. It submitted a tender price of S$135,888,777. The site is the fourth to be offered under HDB's Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) where the developer bids for the land, designs, builds and sells the flats as public housing. The flats have a 99-year...
The HDB is launching an executive condominium housing site in Yishun. The land at Yishun Avenue 11 is being made available under the Reserve List System. This means developers interested in purchasing the land, must submit their application with the minimum price they are willing to bid for the land. The site has an area of 15,080 square metres and a gross plot ratio of 2.8. Upon acceptance of the...
The Housing and Development Board (HDB) came under the spotlight in Parliament on Tuesday with MP Ong Kian Min urging it to exercise compassion in cases of mortgage arrears. The MP for Tampines GRC said that while the lower income group in other countries could move to cheaper housing, Singaporeans do not have that option as HDB flats are already the cheapest form of housing. He recounted how nine families...
The Housing and Development Board is offering 494 four-room flats at Punggol Spring under the Build-To-Order (BTO) System – the first BTO launch for this year. HDB has received 278 applications so far. Interested applicants have until 17 March to apply for a unit there. Prices of units range between S$204,000 and S$259,000. HDB advises those unsuccessful in recent sales exercises to consider applying...
It is time to raise the income ceiling for first-time buyers of subsidised public housing, says MP for Holland-Bukit Timah GRC Christopher De Souza. This, he feels, will also help ensure a more equitable distribution of the Budget surplus. Speaking during the Budget debate, Mr De Souza pointed out that it has been 14 years since the HDB last increased the monthly income ceiling for buyers of new flats,...