Debated in Parliament on 6 Aug 2018.
Mr Alex Yam asked the Minister for National Development (a) what the sizes of the largest available public rental flats in each decade since 1965 are; (b) why the sizes have changed, and (c) whether the size of new public rental flats built since 2006 are suited for large families.
Mr Alex Yam asked the Minister for National Development (a) whether there is a limit to the number of occupants for HDB's rental flats; and (b) whether the Ministry has plans to introduce basic occupancy standards for these rental flats.
Minister, are you taking both questions?
Yes. Thank you for the reminder. I am taking Question Nos 32 and 33 together, with your permission, Sir.
Yes, please.
Public housing first started with Housing and Development Board (HDB) blocks comprising 1-, 2- and 3-room rental flats. Subsequently, as part of the Government's overall move to encourage Singaporeans towards home ownership, HDB sold existing 3-room rental flats to the sitting tenants and closed the 3-room rental register in 1982. Hence, when HDB resumed the rental building programme in 2007, only 1- and 2-room flats were built.
The rental rates for these 1- and 2-room public rental flats are heavily subsidised so that they remain accessible to the lower-income households. More than 90% of households in these public rental flats have four or fewer persons living together. Larger families who form two separate family nuclei, such as grandparents living with parents and children, and need more space may also apply for two separate rental flats.
There are no plans to impose a limit on the number of family members who can live in a rental flat or to impose occupancy standards for such flats. And we take a similar approach for flats which are sold or rented in the open market because, in the same manner, there is no limit on the number of related persons who can stay together as a family in these units.
We will continue to review how best to meet the needs of public rental households, including larger families, as part of the Government's broader effort to support vulnerable families.
Mr Speaker: Mr Alex Yam.
I thank the Minister for his reassurance. Just one very quick factual clarification. The Minister mentioned that larger family units can rent two separate rental flats. How many of these families have applied for them, and how many have been approved so far?
Mr Speaker, as I mentioned, they have to form two separate family nuclei. So, this would typically apply to multi-generational families. I do not have the numbers, but the applicants are not many. This also goes back to the reason why we have to better understand the needs of the families we are talking about.
When HDB closed the 3-room register in 1982, the experience was that many of these families, in fact, preferred to buy, rather than to rent, the 3-room flats because it made more financial sense for them. They could pay using their Central Provident Fund and, at the end of the day, they would have a flat of their own.
So, if you were to talk larger families who want to apply for two separate units, they would have to pay a larger rental amount. Some of them may prefer not to do so. They may prefer to save, for example. If it is a first-timer family, they may very well prefer to build up their savings first in order to buy a flat later. So, I think there are multiple needs here. The Housing and Development Board and the social service agencies are committed to engage these families to better understand their needs and to resolve and tackle them holistically.
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