HDB TRANSITIONAL HOUSING RENTAL SCHEME (Statistics on demand and supply)

Mr Chng Hee Kok asked the Minister for National Development if the Housing and Development Board will provide the latest available statistics on the demand and supply of rental flats in the Transitional Rental Housing Scheme.

Mr Lim Hng Kiang: Mr Speaker Sir, the Transitional Rental Housing Scheme exercises are conducted on a quarterly basis. Applicants are shortlisted according to the registration numbers assigned under the Registration for Flat System to determine their queue positions. Upgraders are given a lower priority and are queued after the first-timers. For the unsuccessful applicants, HDB will place them on the reserve list and invite them to select the remaining flats not taken up by the shortlisted applicants.

HDB offers 500 flats per quarter for selection. In the April 1997 exercise, HDB received 2,850 applicants for the 500 flats offered.

Mr Chng Hee Kok: Sir, what is the average waiting time; and secondly, in view of this mis-match, will the Minister consider increasing the supply of flats under the Transitional Rental Housing Scheme?

Mr Lim Hng Kiang: It is very hard to give an estimate of the waiting time because it depends on the applicants for that quarter. Whenever HDB receives the applications, HDB would then queue them based on their queue positions. So if your queue number is low, you will be called up to select a flat. This is a sensible approach because it means that those who have queued longest in the queue system for the purchased flats will get a chance to get the transitional flats first. So the queue is based on the queue number of the Registration for Flat System.

As to the mis-match in the demand and supply, HDB has been studying this problem and HDB will try to increase the supply by the following measures.

HDB will buy back more 3-room flats from the open market for the Transitional Rental Housing Scheme. HDB will also buy back 2-room flats to add to the stock. HDB will also offer 1-room flats to the Transitional Rental Housing Scheme applicants. We hope that such applicants will not be choosy and would be prepared to accept the 1-room flats.

HDB will also develop a scheme to allow two Transitional Rental Housing Scheme applicants to share a 3-room flat. That means it will be no different than they renting a room in the open market. So, in this case, we will get two applicants or two families to share one flat.

HDB will not allow upgraders to join the queue for the Transitional Rental Housing Scheme on the argument that the upgraders already have a flat and they should not join the queue to compete with the first-timers.

Through all these measures, HDB hopes to increase the supply. But I think the fundamental reason why there is a mis-match in the demand and supply is because the rent for the Transitional Rental Housing Scheme is very low. Today, HDB charges around $200 for a 2-room flat. This is far below the market rent for 1-room flat if you rent it in the open market. So obviously this situation cannot continue. HDB will have to revise the rents for the Transitional Rental Housing Scheme.