Requests for Deferment of Loan Payment Received by HDB since Start of Circuit Breaker Period and Proportion Approved

Ms Ng Ling Ling asked the Minister for National Development given the increasing retrenchment and unemployment figures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, how many requests for deferment of HDB loan payment have been received by the HDB from the start of the circuit breaker period and what is the proportion that has been approved.

HDB provides one-to-one financial counselling to homeowners seeking help with their HDB mortgage payments to understand their needs, and identify suitable measures to assist them. These assistance measures include allowing owners to reduce or defer loan payments, and extending their loan tenure subject to certain age limits. As the financial counselling is holistic, we do not have data on the number of households who requested specifically to defer their loan payments.

From April to August 2020, HDB assisted around 2,500 households with their HDB mortgage payments. Of these, 864 households deferred their loan payments, and another 277 reduced their loan payments.

We are monitoring the situation closely, and will review the adequacy of our assistance measures as the situation evolves.