Reasons Given by Applicants for Rental Flats

Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked the Minister for National Development (a) what are the reasons given by applicants for rental flats in the past 10 years; (b) what is the number of applicants for each reason; (c) how many of them have ultimately managed to find their own flat to upgrade and returned the rental flat; and (d) what is the current number of rental flats as compared with the total number of HDB flats.

The Senior Minister of State for National Development (Dr Koh Poh Koon) (for the Minister for National Development): Madam, HDB's public rental flats cater to households with no viable housing options or family support. In the last 10 years, an average of 3,000 households a year were successful in their applications for rental flats. Of these, an average of 2,600 households a year decided to move into HDB rental flats, with the remainder cancelling their rental request, for example, because they have found alternative housing options.

Households request for rental flats for a variety of reasons, such as inability to afford a flat, perhaps it is a divorce, loss of employment or medical issues. It will be difficult and not meaningful to break down rental requests by reason, as a household may have multiple overlapping reasons for an application for a public rental flat.

Of these households, about 1,600 have returned their rental flats to HDB and now have their own homeownership flats.

There are about a million HDB flats, of which about 56,000 are rental flats comprising a mix of 1- and 2-room apartments.

Mr Gan Thiam Poh (Ang Mo Kio): I thank the Senior Minister of State for the comprehensive reply. May I know whether HDB would consider allowing them to buy over their existing rental flats?

Dr Koh Poh Koon: Madam, is the Member asking about whether existing rental tenants can convert their rental flat into a home-owned one?

Mr Gan Thiam Poh: Yes.

Dr Koh Poh Koon: In the past, we do have such a scheme. Today, we are hoping to encourage them to move on to, say, an established 2-room flexi flat so that we can keep the rental stock for other needy tenants.