SALE OF HOUSING AND DEVELOPMENT BOARD TENANTED SHOPS

Mr Ong Ah Heng asked the Minister for National Development, now that the economy is recovering, whether the Housing and Development Board (HDB) will consider selling the next batch of HDB tenanted shops in the near future.

Mr Mah Bow Tan: The Sale of Tenanted Shops Scheme (SOTS) was introduced in July 1992 with the objective of restructuring and improving the efficiency of shops in HDB estates. So far, HDB has conducted 18 sales with 7,500 or about 75% of eligible shops sold.

While the economy has improved and economic growth is expected to continue into Year 2000, the Government is mindful of the need to maintain cost competitiveness and ensure the growth can be sustained. For this reason, the Government has extended the rental rebates for HDB's commercial properties till the end of December 2000.

At this moment, HDB has no plans to sell any more shops under SOTS. Nonetheless, if there are any specific requests from the Advisors, HDB will consider each case on its own merits.