HOUSING AND DEVELOPMENT BOARD FLATS (Longer loan repayment periods for older applicants)

Mr Leong Horn Kee asked the Minister for National Development whether the Housing and Development Board will be flexible in allowing longer loan repayment periods for older applicants who have been allocated new HDB flats, if they are able to secure repayment contributions from their children or relatives.

The Minister for National Development (Mr Lim Hng Kiang): Mr Speaker, Sir, older applicants can include additional family members such as their children as flat lessees or occupiers. In such cases, the age of the youngest joint purchaser will be used in the computation of the maximum loan repayment period. The combined incomes of all the purchasers will also be used to determine the maximum loan quantum.

There are also other existing provisions for older applicants who have been allocated new HDB flats. In line with the Government's objective to help low-income applicants, HDB is exempting the low-income families from credit assessment. Therefore, older applicants who are buying 3-room or smaller flats direct from HDB as well as those who purchase flats under HDB's Low Income Family Incentives Scheme would be exempted from credit assessment.

Mr Leong Horn Kee (Bishan-Toa Payoh): Sir, can I get a clarification from the Minister? If an applicant is staying in a 3-room HDB rental flat and by the time he wants to purchase this rental flat he is already quite old, can he be allowed to get a longer loan repayment period for such a purchase?

Mr Lim Hng Kiang: Mr Speaker, Sir, HDB, as the public housing authority, has a mission to help Singaporeans own their first flat. In the case that the Member raised of a family who is renting a flat for some time and later on is able to afford either a new flat or the flat that he is staying in, HDB will consider such cases favourably. Even if the head of the family is in the mid-40s, HDB will extend the period of the loan to allow him to buy over his rental flat or to buy a small HDB flat for the first time.