HDB WAITING LIST FOR RENTAL FLATS (Particulars)

[Mr Speaker in the Chair]

Mr J.B. Jeyaretnam asked the Minister for National Development (a) how many persons were waiting to occupy rental flats as at 1st March, 1984; (b) the total number of flats available for rental; (c) how many of these were vacant as at 1st March, 1984 and available for applicants; and (d) how long does he estimate that an applicant for a rental flat will have to wait before he is allocated a flat.

The Minister for National Development (Mr Teh Cheang Wan): As at 1st March, 1984, the waiting list for Housing and Development Board rental flats has 15,660 applicants.

There is a total of 126,564 units of rental flats under the HDB's management.

The number of vacant units as at 1st March 1984 is 2,032. Of these, 1,117 units have been offered to applicants and are awaiting acceptance. The remaining 915 units are in the process of being allocated.

As the HDB has stopped constructing new flats for rental, the availability of rental flats depends entirely on vacancies from tenancy terminations of existing flats. Based on recent trends in tenancy terminations, the waiting period for one-room rental flats is two years whilst that for two-room rental flats is about 4 1/2 years. The waiting period for three-room rental flats is between eight and 10 years. Applicants on the rental waiting list, especially those applying for two-room and three-room units, are urged to switch to the sales register where they can be sure of a flat within a shorter waiting period.

Mr J.B. Jeyaretnam (Anson): Mr Speaker, Sir, a supplementary question for the Minister. The Minister says that applicants are advised to switch to the sales register. Is the Minister aware that in many many cases, these applicants are unable to purchase their own flats? What does the Housing and Development Board expect these persons who cannot afford to pur- chase HDB flats to do when they are evicted or they find themselves without any house to live in in Singapore? Is it not the duty of the Ministry to try and house these people?

Mr Teh Cheang Wan: The Member for Anson has the wrong concept of the Income of Singaporeans. I will give him statistics of the income of the 16,000 applicants on the waiting list. Those who have applied for one-room flats, have an average income of $473 per month. For those who have applied for two-room flats, it is $518 and for three-room flats, it is $603. All these applicants are in the position to purchase flats.

I will give him the calculation so that he can understand it. The one-room applicant has an average income of $473 per month. The CPF contribution, i.e. 40%, will give him $189.20 per month. The down payment for a three-room HDB flat in a New Town, i.e. Woodlands or Yishun, is $6,600 which means that the applicant needs 35 months to accumulate sufficient CPF savings to pay for the down payment. By using his CPF savings alone, he will in 35 months have enough to pay for the 20% down payment without having to suffer any cut in take-home pay.

The selling price of a new three-room flat in the New Town is $29,600. Therefore, after deducting the 20% down payment, he needs a loan of $23,000 from the HDB. He needs to pay only $171 per month as monthly instalment to the HDB for the purchase of a three-room flat. As I have sold earlier, he will have a CPF contribution of $189.20 per month. In other words, his CPF contribution is sufficient to pay for the monthly instalments. This applies to people who are presently waiting to rent one-room flats.

So the Member's information that there are a lot of poor people who cannot afford this and cannot afford that, it exists only in his imagination.

Mr Jeyaretnam: Mr Speaker, Sir, a supplementary question. These figures are all very good on paper. Does the Minister really expect these families to spend all their savings in CPF on the purchase of three-room flats? And what are they left with to live when they retire?

Mr Teh Cheang Wan: Sir, I think the hon. Member for Anson has got it all mixed up. He cannot use his CPF money for anything else other than for the purchase of HDB flat. Buying an HDB flat is a good investment. If he purchases a three-room HDB flat now, as time goes on the value of the HDB flat will appreciate. If the hon. Member has read the advertisements today in the Straits Times or asks his Party members to look up the Chinese newspapers, he will see the selling prices. After five years' occupation of an HDB flat, a person can sell his HDB fiat and make a handsome profit. So by purchasing an HDB flat, he does not only have a home, a nice home in a nice estate, but also a good investment.

Mr Jeyaretnam: Is the Minister seriously suggesting that these people earning $470 or above should spend 90% of all their CPF monies every month for the purchase of a flat and then five years later they should sell them? Where are they going to live after that? Or that they can sell the flat when they stop working. Where are they going to live? What is going to happen to their families? Who is going to look after them? Can the Minister answer all these questions?

Mr Teh Cheang Wan: Mr Speaker, Sir, I think the hon. Member really does not know what is going on in Singapore. The HDB can supply him with a lot of information. After five years, if a person sells his flat he can go on to a bigger flat because the income of Singaporeans is constantly being improved. The people are moving from the smaller flats to the bigger flats all the time. I can supply him with information on the number of one-room tenants living in HDB flats who are waiting to buy bigger flats. I can supply him with a whole set of information, to show that the income of Singaporeans is constantly being improved and they are living in bigger and better flats.

From the information on the present waiting list, the people who are waiting to rent HDB flats as I have given him earlier is 16,000. And the number of people who are waiting to buy HDB flats is more than 90,000. So these figures will tell you that the income of Singaporeans is continually being improved. The Member is imagining that poor people are crawling around in Singapore, that people have no homes, that people are in a miserable condition. It - is just not true.

Dr Augustine H.H. Tan (Whampoa): Supplementary question, Mr Speaker, Sir. Is it not true that many Housing Board dwellers who have bought their flats are able to rent out one or two rooms, especially those who live in four-room and five-room flats? Therefore, they can derive quits an income from the rental.

Mr Teh Cheang Wan: Mr Speaker, Sir, it is true that the HDB allows tenants to sublet their flats. For the three-room flats, they are allowed to sublet one bedroom, and for four-room flats, they are allowed to sublet two bedrooms. But I think the majority of Singaporeans do not wish to sublet their rooms even though the number of their family members may be small. They prefer to use those rooms as a study room, as their children's playroom or for other uses. In fact, they are very unwilling to sublet. This is an indication that the income of Singaporeans is so comfortable that they prefer not to sublet rooms even if they can get a very handsome rental.