Written Answer by Ministry of National Development on applications for HDB rental flats

Oct 7, 2019

Assoc Prof Daniel Goh Pei Siong: To ask the Minister for National Development how many applications to rent HDB flats under the Public Rental Scheme have been rejected because the applicants have exceeded the household income ceiling in the three years before the change in policy to make the criteria more flexible.

Mr Pritam Singh: To ask the Minister for National Development over the past five years, how many successful HDB rental flat applicants have exceeded the income eligibility threshold of $1,500.

Answer:

For some time now, HDB has been taking a needs-based approach in assessing requests for public rental flats. HDB will evaluate each application holistically, taking into account factors such as household income, and whether the applicants have other housing options and family support.  

This approach is not new. MND has stated this in Parliament previously, and highlighted that HDB will assist those in need with a public rental flat even if their income exceeds $1,500. 

Over the last five years, HDB has allocated rental flats to about 720 applicants who exceeded the income guideline of $1,500. There is no available data on the number of applicants who were rejected on the basis that they had incomes above $1,500, as applicants are not rejected solely based on their household income.