COS 2013 Debates: MND – Debarment Period For Rental Housing (MP Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap)

By MP for Aljunied GRC, Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap
[Delivered in Committee of Supply on 11 March 2013]

Mdm, in my previous cut on the housing resale levy issue, I have depicted the circumstances in which lower income families have been requested to sell off their property. This sets in place a 30-months long debarment period for flat owners who intend to rent a flat directly from the HDB.

I recall one of my residents who came to seek my help at my Meet-the-People session. He is a low-income earner with 5 young children under his care. He was left stranded and homeless and his family has to resort to sleeping in a tentage by the beach after he had exhausted all of his sales proceeds on renting a flat from the open market. Officers from the Ministry of Social and Family Development subsequently picked him up and his family was placed in a community shelter. During the 30-months long period in which he was unable to rent a flat from the HDB, he built up another series of arrears as a result of his tight financial situation where the bulk of his proceeds went to servicing his rental commitments. Today even though he has been allocated a HDB rental flat, he is still struggling to pay off the arrears he accumulated during the 30 months long period. The family remains trapped in the debt cycle.

The case I have illustrated is not unique. In fact, many members of this House would have come across similar cases during the course of their work. We can and should do more for lower income Singaporeans. I would like to call upon the Minister to consider to exempt the lower income family from the debarment policy or at least reducing the debarment period for renting a HDB flat from the current 30 months to a period not exceeding 12 months, preferably between 10 to 12 months. Such a move would be most welcomed by many lower income families.