Income Eligibility Criterion for Rental Housing

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for National Development (a) whether the Ministry will review the eligibility criteria for rental housing so that the income criterion is either a total household income or a per capita income; and (b) whether the per capita can be set at $650, similar to the ComCare Short-to-Medium Term Assistance criterion.

Madam, as we have stated before, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) reviews the eligibility criteria for HDB rental flats from time to time and will continue to do so, taking this suggestion and others into account. Whether the criteria are based on household income or per capita income, there will always be a few deserving cases that do not meet the cut-off. That is why HDB already exercises flexibility so that families which do not meet the eligibility criteria can still get a rental flat, if they have no other housing options or family support. This includes bigger families, even if their household income exceeds the income ceiling.

I thank the Minister for the reply. Can I just check if the HDB officers actively or proactively offer this information that we do allow waivers on a case-by-case basis and assist the applicants in applying for the waivers?

Secondly, I do understand there is a shortage of rental flats. So, I would like to ask the Ministry of National Development to consider pegging future supply to projections based on the demand of those on the ComCare Short-to-Medium Term Assistance scheme, because they are the people who usually reside in the rental flats. And while there is shortage now, in future, we should project based on those numbers.

Madam, the fact that there is an appeals channel and the fact that HDB already exercises flexibility for cases that do not meet the income criterion, this is public information, and we do already receive many appeals on that basis. So, anyone who has an application for a rental flat and their application is rejected on an income basis can freely put up an appeal, either through their Member of Parliament or to HDB directly.

On the supply of rental flats, that is, indeed, being stepped up and there are more rental flats coming into the market.