WP MPs concerned with access & affordability of housing for Singaporeans

SINGAPORE — The MPs from the Workers’ Party expressed concern over the access and affordability of housing for Singaporeans last year and will keep bringing the subject up in Parliament for next week’s session.

Mr Leon Perera (Aljunied GRC) and Assoc Prof Jamus Lim (Sengkang GRC) have said in recent social media posts that this is an issue that residents have spoken to them about.  In September, Mr Louis Chua (Sengkang GRC) made a case for lowering the BTO eligibility age to 28 for singles but underlined that the ‘most pressing issue’ is the supply and availability of homes.

For the session next week, Mr Chua will be asking the Minister for National Development what was the annual number of applicants per HDB BTO flat for first-timer, family and single applicants from 2018 to 2022.

He will also ask what are the 25th percentile, median, average and 75th percentile household incomes and BTO price to household income ratios for such families in each year for these years.

The Leader of the Opposition, Mr Pritam Singh (Aligned GRC), meanwhile, will ask about the total dollar value of housing grants and subsidies allocated by HDB in each year from 2010 to 2022 for the HDB BTO apartments in mature and non-mature estates, as well as how many of such flats were constructed for each category.

In a related matter, he will also ask the Minister for National Development what the total dollar value is for estimated housing grants and subsidies required for up to 100,000 new HDB BTO flats the MND will be launching from 2021 to 2025 in mature and non-mature estates, as well as the total number of apartments to be constructed for each category.

Mr Chua will also ask the Minister for National Development if a time-limited rental subsidy for rental flat applicants who qualify for the Parenthood Provisional Housing Scheme and Public Rental Scheme will be considered if recipients cannot find alternative temporary housing arrangements and have not been able to obtain a flat from the HDB after a pre-defined time period.

Finally, he will also ask the Minister the following question: “since the introduction of Build-To-Order (BTO) flats with shorter waiting times in 2018 (a) what is (i) the number of such flats that are launched in each year and (ii) the proportion of such flats versus the total number of BTO flats launched in each year; and (b)what is the expected proportion of shorter waiting time for BTO flats as a percentage of launches from 2023 to 2025.” /TISG

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