Source: Straits Times Forum

Foo-Ho Yoke Ming (Mrs)
Deputy Director (Branch Operations)
Housing & Development Board

I REFER to Ms Mary Tan’s letter last Tuesday, ‘Subletting – Relaxation of rules works against genuine residents’. HDB flats are primarily meant for owner-occupation.

Each household can own only one HDB flat at any one time. However, we recognise that some flat owners may need to sublet their rooms or flat to meet their financial needs.

Therefore, flat owners can sublet their flats if they meet the HDB’s policy requirements. Flat owners who wish to sublet their whole flat must obtain approval from HDB and fulfil the minimum occupation period. HDB’s approval is not needed to sublet room(s) within a flat.

From Feb 1, owners who sublet rooms must register the subletting with the HDB within seven days of doing so. They must also notify the HDB when they renew or terminate their subletting contracts and when there are changes to their tenants’ particulars.

The new requirement supports the Ministry of Home Affairs’ efforts to eradicate loan-sharking activities, and to better protect HDB residents.

Flat owners who sublet rooms or their whole flat must comply with our terms and conditions, and ensure that their tenants do not disturb or inconvenience other residents unnecessarily.

Tenants cannot further sublet the flat to others. The HDB takes a very serious view of unauthorised subletting of flats and will act accordingly.

Letter from James Ang (TODAYonline)

I WAS fortunate to be eligible for the CPF Housing Grant in 2003 when I bought a Housing and Development Board (HDB) resale flat.

I opted for the $40,000 grant due to its proximity to my mother’s house. Since then, the HDB has introduced an extra benefit for first-timers – the Additional Housing Grant (AHG). The amount of this grant was also raised early this year.

I assume that, when the AHG was introduced, it was intended to help first- timers secure their first HDB flat from the resale market. However, the AHG is not retrospective. In other words, people like myself would not be entitled to the AHG if we are to buy another resale flat purely because we are no longer deemed to be first-timers.

However, if my income has not risen (it has, in fact, fallen) since opting for the original CPF Housing Grant and my family is still a single-income family, and we have every intention of downgrading to a smaller flat (instead of upgrading), then I do not see why people in a position like mine cannot enjoy the AHG.

After all, if the HDB’s original intention was to help, then the first-timer requirement should be secondary.

In order to prevent possible abuse, previous first-timers applying for the AHG could be “scanned” for the following:

- Their income levels to check if it has fallen since the original CPF Housing Grant was taken.

- Allowing the AHG for those who are downgrading only.

- Imposing another minimum five-year occupation period of the newly-purchased resale flat.

With so much economic uncertainty going forward, would the HDB be willing to tweak the AHG?

Source: Today Online

Letter from Cheryl Tan Cher Lin

I SIGNED the option-to-purchase for a HDB resale flat in June this year.

My first HDB appointment was in August and the second was scheduled for October.

However, the seller refused to move out of her house in October as she had not obtained the keys for her new flat.

She requested for the HDB to delay the completion of the transaction till January next year.

Doing so would incur late completion interest.

In private property transactions, this interest is deducted from the sale proceeds before it is disbursed to the seller. However, in HDB transactions, the seller has to come up with a separate cheque to pay the interest.

To my understanding, if the seller refuses to pay, I will have to resort to legal action.

I was informed by the HDB that most buyers simply ignore legal action to avoid the hassle.

Why is there a stark difference between the laws governing late completion interest in private property and HDB transactions? The laws need to be tweaked so that sellers do not abuse the system and abide by the schedule set by HDB.

Response: No difference in resale rules

HDB Letter from Loh Swee Heng Deputy Director (Resale) Housing and Development Board

I REFER to the letter from Ms Cheryl Tan, “Tweak HDB resale flat rules to prevent abuse” (Dec 11).

Ms Tan suggested that HDB follow private practice, and deduct late completion interest from the sales proceeds if there is a delay on the part of the seller in the sales completion, before it is disbursed to the seller.

For private property transactions, any deduction will depend on the terms and conditions of the contract, and with the seller not disputing the contractual right of the buyer. We wish to clarify that, similarly, for HDB transactions, if there is no dispute from the seller, the interest can also be deducted from the sales proceeds. Hence, the practices are the same for both HDB and private property transactions.

We thank Ms Tan for her feedback.