HDB RENTAL TENANTS (Execution of legal documents and collection of keys)

Dr Ho Tat Kin asked the Minister for National Development if the Housing and Development Board will consider changing the current procedure of rental tenants having to execute the legal documents at the Board's head office and to collect the keys at the area office to allowing rental tenants to execute the legal documents and collect the keys at the same time at the area office.

The Minister for National Development (Mr S. Dhanabalan): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, the HDB's normal procedure is for tenants to make one trip to the Head Office to execute the legal documents and collect the keys at the same time. There are also facilities at the Head Office to enable tenants to open a PUB account, thus avoiding a separate trip to the PUB headquarters to do so.

For a very brief period between November 1986 and February 1987, during the start of the Rental Block Relocation Exercise, rental tenants affected had to make two trips, one to the Head Office to execute the legal documents, while the flats were in the hands of contractors doing minor repairs. When the repairs and touching up were completed, tenants had to go to the Area Office to collect the keys. This practice has since been discontinued.