Debated in Parliament on 4 Jan 2021.
Mr Mohd Fahmi Aliman asked the Minister for National Development (a) in the last five years, how many applications for HDB's Public Rental Scheme (PRS) were rejected annually; and (b) how many of these rejected applications were subsequently successful on appeal.
HDB’s public rental flats are heavily subsidised and are therefore allocated to households who are in need and do not have other housing options within their means.
From 2015 to 2019, HDB received an average of 7,400 requests regarding rental flats a year. An average of 2,400 requests per year were successful; the remaining requests included enquiries on eligibility conditions, incomplete requests, and rejected requests. The common reasons for rejection include being able to buy a flat, having family members who can house them, and not meeting the citizenship criterion. HDB does not track the number of rejected requests that were subsequently successful on appeal.
HDB carefully assesses every request to understand each household’s circumstances and budget. HDB does not reject requests based on income alone, and will assist households with a rental flat if they have no other housing options.
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