Despite growing plea for a review, the household income ceiling of $8,000 for benefits of public housing will remain.
However, an offer of more executive condominiums (ECs) is being offered by the Government to deal with the needs of those middle-income buyers, whose monthly income ranges from $8,000 up to $10,000.
The said move was announced yesterday by National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan.
According to him, the government’s initiative of offering more ECs will let those buyers, whose monthly earning only ranges from $8,000 up to $10,000, to have an advantage of grants offered by the government and to buy their own home that suits their budget.
Although ECs are constructed with facilities like those of a condominium, they still have restrictions on sales like those homes offered for public housing.
In 1995, these ECs were introduced as a way of bridging the gap between private apartments and public housing. Those first-time buyers, who have an income of not more than $10,000, are able to apply for a grant of $30,000.
Mister Mah said, “We are going to put up more executive condominiums for sale. We will probably be launching some fairly soon”.
As for the present income ceiling of $8,000, he said that the said amount is “a very high income ceiling and we’ve reviewed it regularly”.
“We need to maintain a certain level of subsidy, a certain cut-off (point)”, he added.
Currently, those who have a monthly household earning of less than $8,000 can apply directly to HDB for a flat offered at a subsidised price. If they plan to purchase a flat from HDB, they can seek an application to have a housing grant.
A concern was also noted by the minister that those individuals who earned more than $8,000 may unable to afford for a private housing; still, they are prevented from purchasing new flats from HDB.
“So this is a concern we will address through the provision of more ECs”, Mr. Mah said.