Extension of One-year Period for Reimbursement of HDB Upgrading Subsidy for Singapore Permanent Residents

Mr Murali Pillai asked the Minister for National Development whether the one-year period for reimbursement with upgrading subsidy for Singaporeans who are Singapore Permanent Residents at the point when they subscribed to HDB’s Home Improvement Programme may be extended.

Mr Desmond Lee: Subsidies for HDB upgrading programmes are only extended to Singapore Citizen households. At the point of polling for HDB’s upgrading programmes, including the Home Improvement Programme, Singapore Permanent Resident (SPR) households are informed that they will have to pay the full upgrading cost billed to them upon completion of the upgrading works, but they can submit a claim for the upgrading subsidy if any of the flat co-owners becomes a Singapore Citizen within one year from the date of billing.

Appeals for the reimbursement of the upgrading subsidy from SPR households who had obtained Singapore Citizenship more than one year after the date of billing will be considered on a case-by-case basis.