View of public housing flats in Toa Payoh.
The government is open to allowing families in the Fresh Start Housing Scheme to shorten the 20-year Minimum Occupation Period (MOP) should their family and financial circumstances improve, reported Channel NewsAsia.
“There’s MOP for commitment, but also there’s a flexibility to look at things at a case-by-case basis. So this I think, will motivate, incentivise and inspire them, so that they can work on (the 20 years) as a first milestone,” said Minister of State for Defence and Foreign Affairs Maliki Osman on the sidelines of a visit to the Adapt & Grow career fair held at Bedok on Saturday (3 December).
Dr Maliki, who also chairs the Fresh Start Advisory Committee, noted that the MOP gives families an assurance and a “sense of contracting” since they will be receiving a housing grant from the government for the second time.
Despite being under stable employment for the past few years, Mdm Jamnah was not eligible for a second housing grant to own a house. The former homeowner currently lives in a two-room public rental flat with her teenage daughter and eight-year-old son.
With the Fresh Start Housing Scheme, however, Mdm Jamnah now has the chance to own a home again.
The 43-year-old revealed that her family wants to “to have a very nice kitchen, with cabinets, so everything will all be arranged nicely”.
This sense of ownership is what the government hopes to give to rental flat families through the new scheme.
Around 1,000 public rental families are expected to qualify for the scheme. Dr Maliki revealed that various agencies such as the Community Development Councils, the Ministry of Social and Family Development and Workforce Singapore will work with those who may not qualify at the moment to help them qualify in the future.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
