So, in Parliament in September 2013, the government announced that it will be building another 10,000 rental flats by 2017 – bringing the total to 60,000.
Those in the queue would no doubt welcome the news, as this will shorten their waiting time. Some have had to wait for 21/2 years just to be eligible to apply, and then had to further wait between 7 to 12 months to actually get a flat.
What should be of concern is the increased demand for such flats, which seems to run counter to various observations and claims by government ministers in recent times.
For example, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, said in March that “a family with a monthly income of as low as $1,000 can now purchase a small flat.”
If HDB flats are affordable to anyone with as low a salary as S$1,000 a month, if our household debt-to-income ratio “are not more stretched than they were in the last decade”, and if fewer people are defaulting on their housing loans, why are we seeing an increased demand for cheaper rental flats, and especially in the past five years or so? Full story
