Written Answer by Ministry of National Development on availability of and waiting time for HDB rental flats

Oct 7, 2019

Mr Png Eng Huat: To ask the Minister for National Development:

a) as of August 2019, what is the number of public rental flats that are not occupied;
b) what is the current number of accepted rental flat applicants on the wait list; and
c) what is the expected waiting period for an eligible applicant to be assigned a public rental flat.

Answer:

HDB currently has available about 8,000 rental units. Not all of these are meant for new rental applications. We have earlier announced that HDB will be embarking on redevelopment plans for many of the older rental blocks. So the buffer of rental units is also meant to cater to existing tenants whose flats will be due for redevelopment in the coming years.  

Currently, there are about 200 households waiting to collect their keys to a public rental flat. Some of these households have already been invited for key collection, but chose to defer it, for instance due to locational preferences. 

Because we now have sufficient rental units to meet demand, the time taken for an applicant to be assigned a public rental flat is about 2 months, especially if the applicant is not particular about location. Some waiting time is inevitable for HDB to assess the application, and to identify available rental units that will fit the applicant’s preferred location.