SGHOUSING.COM 新加坡房地产网

Young couples must be realistic, says Mah 

AMID concern that young couples are being priced out of the public housing resale market, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said the Government spent, on average, $1.4 billion a year over the last five years on its commitment to keep housing affordable - and has allocated a further $1.6 billion this coming financial year.

Last year, demand for public housing saw resale prices rise by about 17 per cent. Many first-time buyers voiced frustration at having to turn to the resale market due to a shortage of new HDB flats - but Mr Mah said that this was not an accurate picture.

While there was overwhelming demand for new HDB flats in mature estates such as Bukit Merah, Mr Mah pointed out there are still some 700 units available in the Built-To-Order projects launched last year in Punggol and Sengkang.

Urging buyers “to be realistic in their expectations”, he said: “The Government cannot ensure that flat buyers will get their ideal flat at the specific location and at the time that they prefer.”

As to calls from Members of Parliament to raise the $8,000 income ceiling for housing subsides, Mr Mah pointed out that eight in 10 Singaporean families are already eligible, which means even the upper-middle income are enjoying subsidised housing. “I hope members will agree with me that this is more than generous.”

Turning to another emotion-laden issue that surfaced during Tuesday’s Budget Debate, the Minister stressed that compulsory acquisition of flats by HDB was “absolutely the last resort”, carried out “only after other measures have been exhausted, and only if lessees do not make any effort to resolve their financial situation”.

He was referring to Tampines MP Ong Kian Min’s account of Ms Judy Mitchell’s plight - she had to vacate her flat after accumulating arrears of more than $10,000.

Mr Mah said Ms Mitchell lives in a five-room flat with her adult daughter and mother. “This is her third flat. She has bought and sold two previous flats and has made profits of about $190,000. She has enjoyed three concessionary loans.”

On four occasions over two years, HDB had allowed her to defer her mortgage or pay half her instalment amount, but Ms Mitchell - who was not receptive to HDB’s suggestion to include her working daughter to help service the housing loan - “did not make any attempt to find a long-term solution, and arrears kept mounting”.

Still, Mr Mah said he would ask HDB to consider a non-concessionary loan should Ms Mitchell fail to get a bank loan to buy a smaller flat.

Source : Today - 29 Feb 2008

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 cases and redistribute the flats to more deserving cases in the long waiting queue, said National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan in addressing the keen shortage of rental flats.

He announced a comprehensive review of the Public Rental Scheme to better manage demand, even as the HDB builds more of such flats.

There will be a “more holistic assessment criteria” for applicants, to start with. Mr Mah noted that ex-HDB lessees who had fallen on hard times made up two-thirds of rental flat applicants. Even so, one in five had the money to buy a smaller flat, while many could have stayed with their families.

As for the difficulties of low-income divorcee families, who cannot apply for a rental flat 30 months after the matrimonial home is sold off, Mr Mah said the wider issue of dysfunctional families needs to be studied from a “wider perspective”.

But the Ministry would look into the idea of short-term housing for low-income divorcee families, which now make up more than 20 per cent of those applying for public rental flat. Meanwhile, the HDB will increase the stock of rental flats in the next few years from 42,000 to 50,000. Already, 930 rental units converted from vacant blocks will be ready by this quarter, while work will start this year on another 2,000 which will be ready for allocation from 2011.

Source : Today - 29 Feb 2008

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 would be left with just 30 years of lease to his or her flat.

First announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the last National Day Rally, details of the LBS were unveiled in Parliament yesterday by National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan.

In addition to the equity from the selling of part of the flat’s lease, the HDB will provide a subsidy of $10,000. However, only $5,000 will be paid upfront in cash. The remaining equity will be used to pay the CPF Life annuity scheme that provides monthly payouts for life.

“I believe that the LBS, together with CPF Life, will substantially improve the financial situation of lower income elderly households,” said Mr Mah. “In particular, many of today’s elderly do not have much in their Retirement Accounts.”

But not every HDB lessee qualifies for the LBS. The scheme is restricted to those aged 62 and above who live in three-room or smaller flats. They must have enjoyed at most one housing subsidy and have a household income of less than $3,000. They must also not have bought bigger housing types before. Furthermore, their outstanding housing loans must not be more than $5,000 and they must have stayed in the flat for at least five years.

If the lessee decides to terminate the 30-year lease, there will be a pro-rated refund from the HDB. And if he or she outlives the 30-year lease, the HDB will look into the individual’s circumstances to determine an appropriate housing arrangement, if he or she is unable to pay for lease extension.

“I want to assure them that they will have a roof over their heads, if they outlive their LBS lease,” affirmed Mr Mah.

Jurong MP Mdm Halimah Yacob said the HDB needed to reach out to the elderly who are eligible for the LBS.

She had earlier raised concerns about how the annuity scheme would exclude a quarter of CPF members, those who have less than $40,000 in cash in their CPF accounts - the “very folks who need such protection the most”.

Source : Today - 29 Feb 2008

Developer Allgreen Properties says its full year net profit jumped more than six fold to S$493 million.

Its earnings were boosted mainly by fair value gains on its investment properties.

Excluding the fair value gains, net profit would have nearly doubled on year to S$145 million.

Revenue rose 19 percent to S$569 million.

The company benefitted from higher sales of properties as a result of the buoyant market.

On Thursday, Allgreen shares rose 2 cents to S$1.28.

Allgreen is recommending a final dividend 5 cents a share.

Source : ChannelNewsAsia - 28 Feb 2008

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 lease and will be offered to buyers under similar conditions as flats developed by the HDB.

On its completion, the HDB will handle the development site’s lease administration, while the Town Council will manage the maintenance of its common areas and car parks.

HDB said this latest site is located in a middle-aged estate, with a wide variety of facilities.

Source : ChannelNewsAsia - 28 Feb 2008