Singapore - Housing 01 (May 08 - Oct 08)

[ishak]

CNA, 23 August 2008

SINGAPORE: The Housing and Development Board (HDB) will complete its review of the Public Rental Scheme as early as year end, says National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan.

The HDB will tighten eligibility criteria for rental flats and help moderate demand. But from now, applicants with more urgent needs will be able to bypass the long queue to get their flats.

The HDB is also increasing the number of rental flats from about 43,000 to nearly 50,000 units by 2011.

Speaking to reporters at a Citizenship Ceremony at Tampines on Saturday, Mr Mah said the highly subsidised rental flats will be given to those with the most pressing needs first.

As of June this year, over 4,300 people are on the waiting list for a rental flat. It can take about at least nine months (for a 2-room flat) to 18 months (for 1-room) before they get one.

In reviewing the Public Rental Scheme, Mr Mah said the Housing Board may re-look the 30-month debarment rule, which prevents property owners from applying for a rental flat after selling their home.

Mr Mah said: "The 30-month seems to give the impression that if you wait 30 months, you are sure to get a flat. I think we have to re-examine the 30-month debarment. In fact, we may have to remove the 30-month debarment and just go for eligibility criteria. So if you are truly eligible, you don't have to wait 30 months."

Also under study is the rule that requires first-time home owners, who have bought a flat directly from the Housing Board, to return a portion of the proceeds to their CPF account when they sell the unit.

Right now, the lease for rental flats is renewable every two years. But, Mr Mah said, it is hoped that existing tenants will be able to move out when their financial situation improves. For instance, they could buy a smaller flat or move in with their children, freeing up these units for people who need them more.

Denise Phua, an MP for Jalan Besar GRC, has a suggestion on the eligibility criteria for rental flats.

"Instead of looking at total family income, it might be good to look at per capita income, or income per household member......people who need a rental flat but who may not be the poorest of the poorest, but could still rent HDB flats, but perhaps at a higher rate," she said.

About 60 per cent of 12,000 applications for rental flats filed last year did not meet eligibility criteria. Only 4,671 applicants managed to get a rental unit.

Ms Denise Phua is helping Mr Lee Koon Chua with his rental flat appeal. The 73-year-old, who has been unable to work since a stroke, had sold his 3-room flat earlier this year. But part of the proceeds went to settling his debts and medical expenses. What's left is not enough to buy another property.

Speaking in Hokkien, Mr Lee said: "I could sleep in the streets, but what about my wife. She needs to work, she earns $600-$700 a month. If she stops working, what do we eat?"

He claims that his eight children have abandoned him.

So, Mr Lee and his 64-year-old wife rented a HDB rental flat sublet out illegally by another elderly tenant.

The couple are paying $400 rental a month. This is much higher than HDB rates.

HDB is charging $30 a month, a rate which has been unchanged in the last 30 years. For larger units, it is $330, a rate pegged to the market rate.

[ishak]

MPs: Plug loopholes for rental flats
Aug 23, 2008, ST

One idea to reduce non-desperate cases: Make applicants show proof of their needy status when it comes to nipping the problem of the not-really-needy applying for rental flats meant for the truly needy, the health sector offers some answers.

Eye surgeon and MP Lim Wee Kiak (Sembawang GRC) said the crucial question asked of applicants for Medifund, which helps the needy pay for medical expenses, was whether their family can support them financially.

This meant producing documents to prove family members have little or no money in their Medisave and bank accounts.

Currently, people who apply for subsidised HDB rental flats do not need to give such details.

They need only show that their household income is not more than $1,500 and that they had not sold their property within 30 months of applying for a rental flat, noted Dr Lim.

Five other MPs who spoke to The Straits Times also gave suggestions on how to deal with this problem.

These include educating applicants on alternatives to rental flats and giving concessionary loans to those who want to downgrade to a smaller flat.

The MPs were responding to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's worry over the tripling in the number of people seeking HDB rental flats and his call for those who were not really in need to look for alternatives, such as moving in with their children or renting a room in the open market.

In his National Day Rally speech on Sunday, Prime Minister Lee cited the case of three children asking the HDB to give their mother a rental flat, even though two of them lived in private property and they had the money to hire a maid to look after her.

MPs who have seen such cases believe the underlying problem is often that elderly parents cannot get along with their daughters-in-law or their own children.

Madam Ho Geok Choo (West Coast GRC) believed the solution was to counsel such families.

She recalled persuading a man to rotate among his siblings the care of their elderly parents, instead of putting his old folks in the queue for a rental flat.

She said: 'The family should always be the first line of defence. People should not take the easy way out.'

Mr Zaqy Mohamad (Hong Kah GRC) wanted more public education, focusing in particular on middle-aged parents with children and parents who live with their grown-up children.

'Educate them on the alternatives to rental flats and go on the positives, that you should be more caring to your parents,' he said.

And when the HDB comes across such cases, it should refer them to the community development councils which can mediate among the family members, instead of just rejecting the application.

He added: 'If you give a straight no, you will get more and more re-appeals.'

Housing policies also need to change to cater to the high demand for rental flats, said MPs Liang Eng Hwa (Holland-Bukit Timah GRC) and Charles Chong (Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC).

They noted that those seeking rental flats may genuinely want to downgrade to smaller, less costly accommodation.

Mr Liang reckoned that these people who earn more than $1,500 a month may not mind paying a little more than those renting the flat at a subsidised rate.

To cater to them and others who are needy, more rental flats should be built, he added. This would be over and above the current plan to raise the supply by 20 per cent to 50,000 in the next few years.

Mr Chong homed in on the policy of granting HDB concessionary loans only to people moving to bigger flats.

He argued that the HDB should allow people who cannot afford to live in four- or five-room flats and who want to downgrade to also qualify for these loans. That way, they can look for a smaller flat in the open market and do not need to apply for a rental flat.

While the HDB has approved requests on a case-by-case basis, Mr Chong believed it should be 'a matter of policy, not exception'.

One sure change is the eligibility criteria for rental flats. They are under review, with an eye on tightening them and keeping out people who are not in need.

[-dol-]

Actually, I can understand (though not necessarily endorse) those who seem so "kiasu" to take advantage of every single tidbit they can get from the govt. These tidbits are so few and far between. It is human nature - happen not just in Singapore. I understand that in HK, many supposedly undeserving cases were rather successful in snagging govt rental flats. Some own multiple properties in HK's famously sky-high real estate market.

Then, there are the millionaires who choose to stay in Class C wards in the hospitals. Hey, medical care is not cheap in Singapore. Better to be prudent. Most of these people do not become millionaires by being careless with their $. Our supposedly well-funded govt. is also very prudent with the national reserves. It just rub off on the people.

The govt has done a great job in exhorting people not to take things for granted and to always prepare for rainy days that the people are doing their utmost to do just that. Maximise...maximise...

[helios]

Maximise...maximise...

optimise ... optimise ...

[-dol-]

optimise ... optimise ...

Can't agree more

[winston]

Singapore Hot Stocks-Property stocks down after UBS report

SINGAPORE, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Most Singapore property shares were down on Monday, with Southeast Asia's top developer CapitaLand sinking as much as 5.2 percent to a two-year low, as a bearish report on the office market fueled investor concerns the industry.

UBS analysts said in a report out late Friday that it expects office rentals and capital values to drop as much as 34 percent in the next four years, prompting falls in stocks such as CapitaCommercial Trust , UOL Group and Keppel Land .

"The fall has also been caused by the fall in residential prices. The market is set to soften for the next few quarters due to factors such as short selling," said a dealer.

But dealers said City Developments is bucking the trend to rise 3.8 percent because of its recent announcement of a $1 billion ($708 million) Islamic bond programme by the end of this year. CityDev gained 3 percent.

[winston]

Straits Times;-

Singapore's property market presents plenty of buying opportunities now that it has cooled, property firm DTZ Debenham Tie Leung.

It also said buyers waiting for a major price correction will be disappointed.

[winston]

Business Times:-

Sentiment in the Singapore property market is now far from bullish, but data shows that nearly 97 per cent of those who have sold private apartments and condos in the subsale market in the first seven months of this year made profits.

[-dol-]

Straits Times;-

Singapore's property market presents plenty of buying opportunities now that it has cooled, property firm DTZ Debenham Tie Leung.

It also said buyers waiting for a major price correction will be disappointed.

I don't know about that, but I would be very concerned if I am over-leveraged with multiple properties even a few months back. I will be clinging onto dear hope now.

[Rontan]

Straits Times;-

Singapore's property market presents plenty of buying opportunities now that it has cooled, property firm DTZ Debenham Tie Leung.

It also said buyers waiting for a major price correction will be disappointed.

Every aspect of the economy is pointing towards a slow down in the coming months. I really cannot see why Singapore's property will be an exception to this slowdown. I am not sure if this comment by Tie Leung is genuine, but even if he is thinking "Buyers waiting for a major price correction will NOT be disappointed", I believe he won't say it out publicly.