Written answer by Ministry of National Development on disputes between co-tenants of Joint Singles Scheme over rental payment

Oct 4, 2023

Question No: 5193

Question by: Mr Vikram Nair

To ask the Minister for National Development (a) how many disputes has HDB been made aware of between co-tenants under the Joint Singles Scheme over the last three years; and (b) whether HDB will consider allocating the share of rental each co-tenant has to pay under the terms of the lease, rather than holding them jointly and severally liable for the entire amount.

Answer:

Over the last three years, HDB received feedback from about 270 households under the Joint Singles Scheme (JSS) per year on average, regarding disputes between flatmates. This figure remains low, at about 2% of the total number of JSS households.

2        Currently, HDB charges rent to JSS tenants on a household basis as they are joint users of the same space. Nevertheless, we recognise that rent can be a point of contention, especially when one person does not pay his or her share.

3        We have been piloting the JSS Operator-Run (JSS-OR) typology since December 2021, under which tenants are charged rent on an individual basis so that rent is not a source of conflict. There is also an on-site operator to mediate among tenants if disagreements arise.

4        With the experience from JSS-OR sites, we will review whether to expand this individual charging model to JSS households.