HDB rental flats: Are they really needy?

Source : Sunday Times - 31 Aug 2008

Just who are ‘really needy’ among those living in heavily subsidised rental flats?

Should those who own a car or plasma TV set, employ a maid or install air-conditioners be ineligible?

There are some who enjoy such luxuries and still hog such public housing units, said National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan recently, and the Government is taking steps to ensure only those who really need these units get them.

Eleven MPs The Sunday Times spoke to agreed that many who request such flats at Meet-the-People sessions are not really in need.

MP for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC Charles Chong puts the figure at his sessions at about 60 per cent.

‘Many are middle-class, some even professionals, who seek rental units for their parents because of conflict in the family,’ he said.

But the MPs emphasised that the majority now living in rental flats are truly deserving.

Dr Lily Neo, an MP for Jalan Besar GRC, where half of the constituents live in rental flats, said: ‘Many don’t even have furniture.’

Mr Baey Yam Keng, an MP for Tanjong Pajar GRC who oversees 10 blocks of rental flats in Jalan Bukit Merah and Lengkok Bahru, said that 5 to 10 per cent of the occupants are ‘quite comfortable’.

But Madam Ho Geok Choo, an MP for West Coast GRC, cautioned against taking appearances at face value. ‘They may give the impression they are doing okay. But the furniture could have been brought in from their previous flat, which they were forced to move out of.’

Last week, The Sunday Times visited rental blocks in Ang Mo Kio, Toa Payoh, Jalan Bukit Merah and Clementi and dropped in on 30 households. Most were indeed sparsely furnished. But we also noticed big-screen plasma TV sets, laptops and pets in some units.

Some residents pointed out their underlying difficulties.

Customer service officer Mary Ann Kew, 20, said her desktop PC, bought for $1,000 during a sale, is to help in her part-time studies. It had cost almost her entire salary.

She lives in a two-room rental flat in Toa Payoh with her parents and younger sister. She supports her family and her studies on her $1,400 salary. Her mother, 45, is a part-time cleaner earning less than $1,000. Her father, 77, is retired.

While their household income exceeds $1,500, her family has been given a concession to stay on. Ms Kew explained that she has to pay $12,000 in private school fees.

She hopes to eventually buy a flat for her family. ‘If you can afford it, why take other people’s chances?’ she said.

Over 4,000 on waiting list

All of the HDB’s lettable rental flats are occupied. Rents for one- or two-room units range from as low as $26 to $275.

Of the 40,732 rental households, over 75 per cent are small households (fewer than three people), and 70 per cent of residents are above 50 years old.

As of June this year, there were 4,387 applicants on the waiting list.

To be eligible, applicants must be Singapore citizens aged 21 and older. Their monthly household income must not exceed $1,500, and they must not own or have an interest in private property or have sold their property in the last 30 months. Those who had bought two flats directly from the HDB are not eligible.

Rental flats are let on a two-year term tenancy, subject to renewal.