Number of Singaporeans Married to Non-citizen Spouses Eligible to Buy New HDB BTO Flats

Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked the Minister for National Development (a) what is the estimated number of Singaporeans married to non-citizen spouses who are eligible to buy new HDB BTO 2-room flats; and (b) whether all HDB blocks which have 2-room flat types will include other flat types as well.

The Minister for National Development (Mr Khaw Boon Wan): Madam, there are about 7,000 marriages each year involving Singapore Citizens and foreign spouses. As I said, since July this year, such couples are now eligible to buy 2-room Build-to-Order (BTO) flats in the non-mature estates, so long as the Singapore citizen is a first-timer buyer and meets some age and household income criteria. As our marriage register does not capture income or housing history, we are unable to estimate the number as requested by the Member. However, we note that in the July and September 2013 BTO exercises, about 300 such couples applied under this new scheme.

All HDB blocks which have 2-room flats will usually include other flat types as well. This is to promote social mix.