PURCHASE OF HDB FLATS IN OPEN MARKET (By family units with one permanent resident)

[Mr Speaker in the Chair]

Mr Heng Chiang Meng asked the Minister for National Development whether he will allow the purchase of Housing and Development Board flats in the open market by family units where only one member is a permanent resident.

The Senior Minister of State for National Development (Dr Lee Boon Yang) (for the Minister for National Development): Mr Speaker, Sir, prior to August 1989, only Singapore citizens with one other family member who is a citizen or permanent resident were eligible to purchase flats directly from HDB or in the resale market. In August 1989, HDB relaxed its rules to allow permanent residents to buy HDB flats in the resale market. But a buyer who is a permanent resident must have a family nucleus with at least one other member in his household who is also a permanent resident. To allow a family where only one member is a permanent resident to buy an HDB flat would mean treating the permanent resi- dent more favourably than a Singapore citizen. This is not fair to our citizens and is not good public housing policy. We will not allow a family unit where one member is a permanent resident and the others are non-permanent residents to buy an HDB flat.

Mr Heng Chiang Meng (Cheng San GRC): Sir, may I ask the Senior Minister of State whether the present policy allows Singapore citizens, regardless of their income level, to buy flats in the open market? Because he did mention that to allow a family where only one member is a permanent resident to buy a flat from the open market would mean treating the permanent resident more favourably than Singaporeans.

Dr Lee Boon Yang: Mr Speaker, Sir, any Singaporean is eligible to buy an HDB flat from the resale market provided he complies with the other requirement, ie, family nucleus. And within the family nucleus, he must have either a citizen or another PR.

Mr Heng Chiang Meng: Sir, does this mean that if a family unit has only one Singaporean and no permanent resident, the family unit is not permitted to buy a flat from the open market?

Dr Lee Boon Yang: That is correct, Sir.

Mr Heng Chiang Meng: Sir, in that case, may I ask the Senior Minister of State to take this particular situation into consideration? May I ask the Senior Minister of State whether he will agree with me that buying flats from the open market will not incur the element of subsidy from the Government, since it is an established point that the subsidy has been taken away in the open market. May I also ask him whether he views it equitable to treat long-serving permanent residents of more than 20-30 years in Singapore in this manner when the present policy allows new immigrants, the moment they are given PR status, PR status will also be given to all their family members so as to allow them to buy flats in the open market?

Dr Lee Boon Yang: Mr Speaker, that is a very lengthy question. I do not really know which particular part of the question I should address. But let me assure the Member that the our policy on eligibility for public housing should be fair to our Singaporeans and should treat our Singaporeans better, if not equal, to permanent residents, and this is regardless of whether they are old or new permanent residents.

Mr Heng Chiang Meng: Sir, may I ask the Senior Minister of State whether he considers it fair to allow new permanent residents to buy flats whereas he does not allow a Singaporean with a proper family unit to buy a flat if this Singaporean happen not to have a Singapore citizen or a permanent resident in his family? I would say that this policy is not fair to that particular Singaporean.

Dr Lee Boon Yang: I think that is a gross misunderstanding of the policy. If a Singapore citizen has a family here and it is quite likely that in due course he will be able to sponsor his other family members to become permanent residents, then he will be able to enjoy the benefits of public housing. The Member is trying to compare with some of the new permanent residents. May I remind the Member that new permanent residents must also comply with our family nucleus requirement. Therefore, it is not a case of a single person coming here as a permanent resident and suddenly he becomes eligible to purchase a resale flat in the open market. He must also have a family and the family must comply with our requirement; ie, within the family, there must be at least one other permanent resident.

Mr Heng Chiang Meng: Sir, one final question, please, with your indulgence. May I just ask why the Senior Minister of State objects to these permanent residents buying flats in the open market when these flats are no longer subsidized by the Government?

Dr Lee Boon Yang: HDB flats are sold to our citizens on a subsidized basis and we have gone through all this before. The fact that they have been sold by the owners on the resale market does not mean that the owners have fully exploited the potential because the supply of HDB flats is there. It is for that reason that the prices of HDB flats even on the resale market are still lower than private housing. The element of subsidy is to some extent carried forward. Otherwise, some of our newer HDB resale flats, like Executive flats, ought to cost more, if not the same as some private housing. But the Member knows that this is not so. I think it is for this reason alone that we ought to continue with this policy of requiring a citizen or a PR within the family nucleus for eligibility to purchase HDB flats.