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PM Lee: New flats stay affordable..
HDB flats affordable: Mah
By Goh Chin Lian SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT
Eight in 10 Singaporean households qualify for the various housing grants the Government gives to flat buyers, even those who buy resale flats. -- ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO
AMID concerns about escalating prices of resale flats, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan yesterday assured Singaporeans that HDB flats remain affordable to most.
He said first-time households use on average less than 30 per cent of their household income to service their housing loans, which is within the yardstick the Government uses to measure affordability.
Also, eight in 10 Singaporean households qualify for the various housing grants the Government gives to flat buyers, even those who buy resale flats.
He was responding to four MPs who queried the affordability of HDB flats, including Ms Jessica Tan (East Coast GRC), who was worried that young couples could not qualify for housing grants. She wanted the $8,000 income ceiling to qualify for a new HDB flat or to be eligible for a grant to buy a resale flat to be raised.
Mr Mah rejected the request, saying, 'There must be a limit to the number who can qualify.'
For households whose incomes just exceed the $8,000 cap, he said the Government will put up more executive condominium sites for sale next year. First-time buyers whose incomes are under $10,000 can get a $30,000 grant.
Mr Mah also pointed to two other measures that make HDB flats affordable: One is the Additional Housing Grant given to households earning less than $5000 to help them own their first homes.
Another is the income ceilings imposed on buyers of new two-room and three-room flats, at $2,000 and $3,000 respectively.
'This ensures that the higher-income households do not compete with lower-income households for the smaller flat types, thus enhancing their affordability,' he said.
To further allay MPs' concerns, he produced a chart showing the prices of new flats in non-mature estates and how these compared to the incomes of their buyers.
By Goh Chin Lian SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT
Eight in 10 Singaporean households qualify for the various housing grants the Government gives to flat buyers, even those who buy resale flats. -- ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO
AMID concerns about escalating prices of resale flats, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan yesterday assured Singaporeans that HDB flats remain affordable to most.
He said first-time households use on average less than 30 per cent of their household income to service their housing loans, which is within the yardstick the Government uses to measure affordability.
Also, eight in 10 Singaporean households qualify for the various housing grants the Government gives to flat buyers, even those who buy resale flats.
He was responding to four MPs who queried the affordability of HDB flats, including Ms Jessica Tan (East Coast GRC), who was worried that young couples could not qualify for housing grants. She wanted the $8,000 income ceiling to qualify for a new HDB flat or to be eligible for a grant to buy a resale flat to be raised.
Mr Mah rejected the request, saying, 'There must be a limit to the number who can qualify.'
For households whose incomes just exceed the $8,000 cap, he said the Government will put up more executive condominium sites for sale next year. First-time buyers whose incomes are under $10,000 can get a $30,000 grant.
Mr Mah also pointed to two other measures that make HDB flats affordable: One is the Additional Housing Grant given to households earning less than $5000 to help them own their first homes.
Another is the income ceilings imposed on buyers of new two-room and three-room flats, at $2,000 and $3,000 respectively.
'This ensures that the higher-income households do not compete with lower-income households for the smaller flat types, thus enhancing their affordability,' he said.
To further allay MPs' concerns, he produced a chart showing the prices of new flats in non-mature estates and how these compared to the incomes of their buyers.
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