First-time home buyers will now be able to get a flat earlier.
Young couples looking to buy their first home can now look forward to shorter waiting time of two-and-a-half years, with construction of the first batch of 1,000 flats in non-mature estates to commence ahead of their launch in 2018.
This was announced during the Ministry of National Development’s Committee of Supply debate on Tuesday (7 March).
First-time buyers will also enjoy greater priority for these flats as 95 percent of the four-room and bigger flat types will be set aside for them, up from the previous quota of 85 percent in non-mature estates.
To give those with urgent housing needs quicker access to flats, the HDB will also offer unsold balance flats at regular intervals via ballot, giving priority to first-time households. These flats will be offered in one common pool, with the first such exercise to be launched in the second half of this year.
Meanwhile, elderly flat buyers looking to right-size their home will be allowed to defer the down payment until the collection of keys to their new flat.
To be implemented from May, the Deferred Downpayment Scheme (DDS) “will benefit homeowners aged 55 and above who are applying for a two-room Flexi or three-room flat in a Build-To-Order (BTO) or Sale of Balance Flats (SBF) exercise”.
Under the Temporary Loan Scheme (TLS), elderly buyers will also enjoy temporary loans, if they had not taken a housing loan for their new flat.
The government noted that these schemes will help “ease the cash flow for elderly flat owners whose funds are tied up in their existing flat, and smoothen the right-sizing process”.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
