PEOPLE in dire need of a home will be moved to the front of an increasingly long queue for public rental flats.
While this policy change applies immediately, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan on Saturday also gave a peek into new rules to stop abuse of a HDB scheme that lets out flats at what he said was a 'ridiculously cheap' price that has been unchanged for 30 years - as little as $26 to $275 a month.
By March next year, at the latest, Singaporeans will know if these rules being studied will get the green light:
Require owners to credit into their Central Provident Fund (CPF) account the subsidy they had enjoyed when they bought the flat fom HDB, if they sell it.
The amount could be about $30,000 to $40,000.
Now, they can pocket their entire sales proceeds. The fear is that they spend it all, fall into dire straits and join the queue for a rental flat.
Mr Mah did not say if the rule is meant only for people who are applying for rental flats, or for all who sell their flats.
But this rule will be in line with that for people who bought a flat from the open market and enjoyed a government grant of $30,000 to $40,000. They must put that sum back into their CPF acccount when they sell their flat.
Remove the 30-month rule on no property sales. People currently can apply for a rental flat only if they had not sold their property in the past 30 months.
But this rule keeps those in dire need waiting, while giving the not-really-needy the impression that if they wait 30 months, they are sure to get a flat, said Mr Mah.
Read the full story in tomorrow's edition of The Straits Times.
