Per Ah Seng faced HDB in court last Friday in a bid to quash the government’s decision to seize his flat last year for unauthorised subletting, reported the media.
The 47-year-old businessman wanted the High Court to review whether HDB acted unfairly, since he claimed it did not disclose enough information about its investigations before the seizure.
HDB found Per and his wife rented out their entire four-room flat without securing written authorisation, as required by the rules.
Per denied renting out the entire flat, saying that they only rented out two rooms, which he registered online with the HDB in April 2010.
However, he admits there were times when the couple and their two children would stay overnight in his mother’s flat in Hougang. This is to accompany his mother, who lives alone and was depressed following her husband’s death in 2009.
Aside from interviewing the flat’s tenants, it is understood HDB also conducted extensive surveillance.
Per’s appeals to the HDB as well as the Minister for National Development, including through his Member of Parliament (MP), failed and he applied for the judicial review as a last resort.
Meanwhile, the HDB revealed this is the first High Court case that involves “a judicial review for compulsory acquisition of a flat that is going for a hearing.”
The case is set to clarify what is required for an owner to show that he is in continuous physical occupation of a flat and has not abandoned the unit.
Muneerah Bee, Senior Journalist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact her about this or other stories email muneerah@propertyguru.com.sg
