ST : HDB to review rule on siblings

18 JAN 2011,
HDB to review rule on siblings

By Jessica Cheam

THE Housing Board yesterday said it will be reviewing its scheme that allows siblings - whether citizens or permanent residents (PRs) - to buy resale flats.

Such applications, which are considered on a case-by-case basis, are small in number, the HDB added.

It had recently clarified that siblings can apply to buy HDB resale flats if their parents live overseas and do not already own a public flat. They could be citizens or PRs.

It made these points in response to queries from The Straits Times, following recent concerns that surfaced in online forums, where users noted that unmarried PR siblings above the age of 21 were allowed to buy HDB resale flats, whereas Singapore citizen siblings could not.

Some had asked why there was a difference in the rules.

Under the current rules, unmarried Singapore citizens can buy HDB resale flats only if they are above the age of 35 under the Single Singapore Citizen Scheme, or with their siblings if their parents are dead under the Orphans Scheme.

The HDB has since clarified that citizen siblings can apply to buy resale flats and that all such applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

It reiterated yesterday that one of the key principles regarding public housing ownership is that 'each family can own only one flat at a time'.

'This is applicable to Singaporeans and PRs. Therefore, applications from unmarried siblings whose parents reside overseas are considered on a case-by-case basis,' it said.

'Their parents must not already and cannot subsequently own another HDB flat concurrently.

'We have been very stringent in assessing such applications. The numbers granted so far are small,' the HDB pointed out.

It added that it will be reviewing the scheme 'as part of our ongoing policy reviews'.

The competition for public housing between citizens and PRs, with flat prices hitting historic highs, has caused some unhappiness among the population.

The HDB had addressed some of these concerns in March last year when it made a bigger distinction between benefits for citizens and PRs, including setting new quotas on PR ownership of flats in specific blocks and neighbourhoods and giving less in the way of subsidies.

But even after the recent clarification, people such as Mr Leong Sze Hian, who wrote to The Straits Times Forum page, noted that the public was 'largely unaware' of the scheme.

He said he felt it hard to agree that the HDB's rules treat citizen and PR siblings similarly.

'It is almost a given that the parents of most PR siblings would be overseas and do not already own an HDB flat, whereas much fewer parents of citizen siblings would be abroad and do not own an HDB flat,' he said.