The Ministry of National Development (MND) has revealed that 1,860 first-timer low-income families bought a new HDB flat over the last three years, with help from the Additional CPF Housing Grant (AHG) and Special CPF Housing Grant (SHG).
Last year, 60 divorcees or widowed persons with children were able to book a two- or three-room flat in a non-mature estate, with five percent of the Build-to-Order (BTO) quota reserved for them.
The HDB debarment period for divorcees was also shortened, and 120 persons from this group managed to book a flat earlier.
Interim rental housing was also stepped up for those in need of temporary accommodation while they wait for longer-term housing. The public rental stock increased from 42,000 flats in 2007 to the current 50,000, and is expected to reach 60,000 by 2017.
Moving forward, MND will continue to look into ways to help public rental tenants progress to homeownership.
Muneerah Bee, Senior Journalist at PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact her about this or other stories email muneerah@propertyguru.com.sg
Related Stories:
Singapore at the frontier of skyrise greenery movement: Khaw
Budget: Too early to relax cooling measures, says Tharman
Budget: 800,000 HDB households to get rebates