ST Forum : Housing woes mar bundles of joy

16 Feb 2011,
Housing woes mar bundles of joy

MY HUSBAND and I welcomed our twin girls last year, and our brood doubled to four children, which forced us to hire a second maid.

Our 75 sq m flat, the smallest four-roomer in our area, could no longer accommodate what was effectively a family of eight, including the domestic help.

So we went through the usual HDB flat-hunting process, applying for build-to-order flats and balance flats, but we could not secure a ballot number.

We then went resale flat hunting, but the high cash-over-valuation and the lower loan amounts offered by the bank because of HDB's new rules meant that we had to fork out at least $80,000.

To meet the requirements of the new rules, we would have had to sell our current flat and move to a rental flat before we could go resale flat hunting. This would entail us moving house twice, with four young children in tow, in order to upgrade to a bigger flat. It proved too hard and we had to abandon the idea.

I then appealed to the HDB to sell us a flat on its list of leftover five-room flats in our vicinity, but it did not reply.

I sought the help of my MP to appeal on my family's behalf. After four letters of appeal, the Housing Board replied that it had only a limited number of returned five-room flats, and our case was not special enough to warrant HDB to look into it.

So while I would love to encourage Singaporeans to have more children, I am forced by my experience to advise them to think twice.

Our parents' generation enjoyed the possibility of upgrading to a bigger HDB flat to accommodate a bigger family.

That avenue does not appear to be available anymore for my husband and me, and our generation.

With limited supply of new flats and competition in the resale market, the HDB's priority is given to first-timers and not upgraders.

If we could have turned back the clock, my husband and I would have stopped at two, because having more children means less space at home.

Lim Yu Hong (Madam)