HDB RENTAL FLATS (Review of policy)

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HDB RENTAL FLATS:

(Review of policy): 2.

Dr Lily Neo asked the Minister for National Development (a) how many applications for HDB rental flats have failed because of the two sharing policy in the past years; and (b) will his Ministry review this policy especially for those

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single elderly with no family member to share with.

The Minister of State for National Development (Mr Cedric Foo Chee Keng) (for the Minister for National Development): Sir, under the Joint Singles Scheme (JSS) for HDB rental housing, two singles who are at least 35 years old and who have a combined monthly income of not more than $1,500 can apply jointly to rent a one-room flat from HDB.

HDB requires singles to pair up to rent a flat because HDB has a limited stock of rental flats, whose rents are heavily subsidised. This pairing arrangement also facilitates mutual care and support between the tenants, which is especially important for elderly singles.

HDB maintains a list of single persons who are looking for a flatmate. HDB does not track the number of applicants who are ineligible because he or she cannot find another person to pair up with. Nevertheless, there are currently 9,400 rental flats let out under the Joint Singles Scheme. This suggests that many singles are able to get together and share a rental flat.

We have no plans to change the requirement for singles to pair up to rent a flat.

Ms Irene Ng Phek Hoong (Tampines): I would like to ask about the rising trend of divorce cases. We do see divorced women with young children.

So, they do not have two people who are adults above 35, but they do have one person above 35 and one young child. Can the Government relook its policy to allow for such cases to also have rental flats?

Mr Cedric Foo Chee Keng: Sir, a divorced person, with custody of at least one child, is considered a proper family

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nucleus under HDB's eligibility criteria for subsidised rental, so we will allow such cases.

Dr Lily Neo: Sir, I asked in my question on the number of applicants of HDB rental flats who have failed, but the Minister of State has not replied on that.

Mr Cedric Foo Chee Keng: Sir, I have said that we do not track the number of people who have failed because they cannot find another partner to pair up with to rent a flat. How would HDB know? They apply if they can find another person to pair up with, and we provide them with a rental flat. If they cannot find another person, we will help them, because we have a list of other applicants who are also similarly looking for a pairing-up arrangement. So those who actually failed to find a flatmate and decided not to apply (on that reason alone), we really do not have records of these people.

Dr Lily Neo: May I ask the Minister of State whether our two-sharing rental policy causes a lot of hardship on the elderly who do not have family members to share their rental flats with? Is it not very difficult for them to share their rental flats with complete strangers, especially at their age? Is it reasonable to insist on them to comply with this policy? Will the Minister of State consider converting some of the two-room HDB flats to one-room HDB rental flats to accommodate more single elderly?

Mr Cedric Foo Chee Keng: Sir, as I said, there are currently 9,400 rental units let out under the Joint Singles Scheme. So there are many who are able to find another person to pair up with. Yes, in isolated cases, they cannot get along, in which case, HDB allows this remaining tenant six months or so to find another flat mate to live together with. So, by and large, yes, it is not ideal, but it has

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worked well and there are now 9,400 such cases.

Ms Irene Ng Phek Hoong: For the reason that HDB is sticking to its rule of two persons per flat, is it because there is a lack of rental flats?

Mr Cedric Foo Chee Keng: Sir, if the Government were to invest the next dollar of its budget, we could do what the Member suggested, drop the requirement for pairing up, allow each one to rent individually his own flat. What does that mean? We would have to double the number of rental flats currently let out to joint singles. Today, as I said, there are 9,400 units. If you double that, say, another 9,000, at roughly $100,000 per unit, it is $900 million. And is that all? I think many at the margins will say, "It is not too bad; total privacy for $30 rental a month. Let me also join the queue." And, willy-nilly, we would have enlarged the safety net and unwittingly fallen into the trap of the welfare state. So, I say, we are better off if we invest this money to expand our economy to create the jobs and incentivise workers to retrain so that, that way, we can increase or at least maintain our high home ownership rate and, more importantly, preserve our work ethos.

Mr Speaker: Dr Neo. Last question.

Dr Lily Neo: Sir, the Minister of State said earlier that it was an ideal. Does that mean that he is going to change this two-sharing rental policy? Am I not correct that those who really apply for HDB rental flats are the ones who cannot afford any other type of housing? May I ask the Minister whether there will be an increasing number of elderly being denied of HDB rental flats, in view of the increasing number of smaller families, an ageing population and the limited number of rental HDB flats? Will he spare more thought for our elderly, especially our needy elderly?

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Mr Cedric Foo Chee Keng: Sir, when I first joined the Ministry of National Development, the first visit I asked HDB to arrange for me was to visit rental flats, and I have done so. I have visited those flats in Bukit Merah and Redhill Close, and what I saw was a Main Upgrading Programme. The Government is investing a lot of money to make sure that the needs of the elderly are taken care of. If you were to visit these flats, you will see that the lifts are larger to enable wheelchairs to roll in and out. There is no ledge to impede the movement of elderly people. There is even a panic response system inside the flat, should an elderly get into trouble. Here again, I emphasise that, if they live in pairs, that would provide for mutual care and support. So the Government is concerned, aware and is doing lots of things, investing a lot of money to help upgrade the living conditions of the elderly.

But to change the pairing policy means to double the number of rental units to Joint Singles that we have today which, as I said earlier, involves a non-trivial sum. More importantly, rental housing is really to provide for the lower strata of our population. It is a safety net. It is not an area which we want to increase. In fact, what we should do, as I said, is to help them find jobs, expand the economy, so that they can move out of these rental flats and own their own homes.