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| 20. |
Dr Warren Lee asked
if the Government could offer other housing
alternatives for Singaporeans. He will be
happy to know that HDB will relax its rules
on rental flats, but within the overall framework
of promoting home ownership. Currently, the
household income ceiling to rent 1- or 2-room
flats under the HDB Public Rental Scheme is
$800 per month. Many MPs have asked for this
to be raised. We have been reluctant to do
so as we prefer to give more help to low-income
families to buy flats and become homeowners,
rather than have them become permanent tenants
in rental flats. |
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| 21. |
However, as our
economy restructures, some households earning
more than $800 per month will have difficulty
sustaining home ownership. No matter how easy
we make it for families to buy flats, there
will still be some households at the margins
who are either not ready to buy flats, or
who need affordable rental housing on a temporary
basis, perhaps for a year or two. To help
them, we will raise the household income ceiling
for renting flats under the HDB Public Rental
Scheme from $800 to $1,500 per month. However,
households earning more than $800 per month
will receive a lower subsidy on their flat
rentals than those earning less than $800.
They will thus pay higher rents, though the
rents will still be very affordable. This
will encourage them to purchase their own
flats as soon as they are able to. |
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