Singaporean and Permanent Resident Flat Owners Renting Out HDB Flats Whilst Owning Private Residential Property

Mr Pritam Singh asked the Minister for National Development of those HDB flat owners who rent out their HDB flats for passive income whilst owning private residential property, how many of them are (i) Singaporeans and (ii) permanent residents as at 31 December 2011 and 31 December 2021 respectively.

Mr Desmond Lee: As at 31 December 2011, about 6,100 households (or 0.7% of all HDB households then), rented out their HDB flats while owning private residential property. Of these, about 5,900, or 97%, were Singaporean households, while about 200 were Singapore Permanent Residents (SPR) households.

Since January 2013, SPR households have been disallowed from renting out their whole flat for the duration of their flat ownership. This is to ensure that SPR households purchase HDB flats only for owner-occupation. SPR households are also not allowed to retain their HDB flat if they acquired an interest in a private residential property. These rules are still in place today.

As at 31 December 2021, about 21,000 Singaporean households (or 2.1% of all HDB households) rented out their flats while owning private residential property.