ST : PRs, foreigners form 12% of HDB dwellers

Feb 19, 2010

PRs, foreigners form 12% of HDB dwellers

PERMANENT residents (PRs) may buy one in five, or 20 per cent, of HDB resale flats today but the latest figures available indicate they form a far smaller minority of the HDB resident population.

Findings of the HDB's 2008 Sample Household Survey released yesterday showed that PRs made up 8 per cent of the total 2.92 million residents living in HDB flats in 2008.

Non-PR foreigners make up another 4 per cent, which means almost nine in 10, or 88 per cent, of HDB residents were still Singaporeans.

Foreigners and PRs have been singled out recently by disgruntled buyers priced out of the market as possible reasons for the sky-high demand that has pushed HDB resale flat prices to record levels.

But the numbers, the latest available, show that PRs and foreigners are not likely to cause significant increases in flat prices, said Associate Professor Sing Tien Foo of the National University of Singapore's real estate department.

Still, to address concerns, the HDB said recently it is considering introducing a separate ethnic quota for PRs to prevent them from forming enclaves in public housing estates - but details are not available yet.

JESSICA CHEAM