Breakdown of Appeals Received and Acceded to by HDB Relating to Ethnic Integration Policy

Mr Leong Mun Wai asked the Minister for National Development in 2023 and 2024 (a) what is the number of appeals related to the Ethnic Integration Policy received by HDB; (b) how many appeals were acceded to; (c) of the appeals acceded to, how many were assisted through the buyback assistance measure; and (d) what is the breakdown of the above figures by ethnicity.

The Housing and Development Board (HDB) provides a range of assistance measures for flat owners who face genuine difficulties selling their flats when the Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP) quotas have been reached. These include giving them more time to sell off their existing flat if they have purchased another one, or waiving the EIP limits in exceptional circumstances to allow them to sell their flat to buyers of any ethnic group. In cases where waiving the EIP limit may lead to further imbalances in the proportion of the various ethnic groups in blocks or neighbourhoods, HDB may consider buying back flats from eligible EIP-constrained flat owners.

In 2023 and 2024, HDB received 693 EIP-related appeals from flat owners. HDB acceded to 211 appeals, including helping 8 households with the buyback measure. The breakdown by ethnic group is in the table below.