No balloting? Developers told to be transparent

Source : Sunday Times – 10 May 2009

I refer to the letter, ‘Ballot is fairer to all’ (April21), and the commentary, ‘Queuing 36 hours for a home’ (April26).

The bulk of public housing is sold by the Housing Board under the Build-To-Order system via balloting.

The Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) is a private developer-led scheme to give more choices to a niche group of HDB flat buyers who want better design and finishes.

Under the DBSS, private developers bid for the land, design the project, oversee construction, and market and sell the flats to eligible flat buyers.

They can decide how to sell the flats so long as the objectives and fundamentals of public housing are preserved.

These include the different priority schemes that are applicable to HDB flat buyers.

For Parc Lumiere, the HDB understands that pre-designated units were set aside for priority schemes, such as the Married Child Priority Scheme and Third Child Priority Scheme.

A majority of the flats were also set aside for first-timers, in recognition of their more urgent need for housing.

The HDB has shared with the developers the pros and cons of the various sale approaches.

Developers are required to ensure that their sale of DBSS flats is transparent to the public and carried out in an orderly and fair manner.

Most of the developers have adopted the balloting approach in their sale of DBSS flats so far.

The HDB will continue to monitor DBSS sales exercises closely to ensure that public order and safety are not compromised.

We thank the writers for the feedback.

Lee Yat Thong
Acting Deputy Director (Sales)
Housing & Development Board

Keeping the flat after a divorce

Source : Sunday Times – 10 May 2009

Q My son-in-law has left my daughter for another woman. He has decided to divorce her and wants the HDB flat to be sold so that he can get half the proceeds of it, which is in joint names. Both have contributed equally to the payments.

The flat is rented out because he is not providing any maintenance, and my daughter and her two children are living in my flat. My daughter needs the flat as a home for the children in the future.

The divorce cannot take place yet as the period of separation has not been four years. What worries us is: Will the court order the sale of the HDB flat in this situation? We are afraid to lose the flat.

A In all divorce proceedings in which an HDB flat is involved, the Housing Board will complete a Standard Query in which it will set out if the flat can be sold in the open market or surrendered. If the occupancy period is not satisfied, generally the HDB would ask that the flat be surrendered.

If your husband is not paying your daughter maintenance, she should apply to court for interim maintenance as her renting out of the whole flat may be construed that she does not need the flat and that she has alternative accommodation.

Upon divorce, the flat will stand to be divided and even though they may both have contributed equally, her indirect non-financial contributions in looking after the welfare of the family would also be taken into account.

She may therefore be given more than her 50 per cent share in the flat. At the divorce stage, she may wish to explore the possibility of the flat being transferred to her by buying out her husband’s share or a transfer to her with or without refund to his CPF account.

Amolat Singh
Lawyer
Amolat & Partners

Advice provided in this column is not meant as a substitute for comprehensive professional advice.