Written Answer by Ministry of National Development on the number of HDB flat bedrooms owned by permanent residents rented out in each of the last ten years

Oct 20, 2022

Mr Leong Mun Wai: To ask the Minister for National Development how many bedrooms of HDB flats owned by permanent residents have been rented out in each of the last ten years.

Answer:

While Singapore Citizen (SC) households are allowed to rent out their whole flat after fulfilling the Minimum Occupation Period (MOP), Singapore Permanent Resident (SPR) households are not allowed to do so even after fulfilling the MOP. Meanwhile, both SC and SPR households that own a 3-room or larger flat can rent out spare bedroom(s) at any point after key collection.

2        For households that rent out spare bedroom(s), the flat owners and all authorised occupiers must continue to stay in the flat with the tenants while the spare bedroom(s) are being rented out. If not, the approval for renting out of bedroom(s) will be revoked, and action can be taken against the flat owner under the Housing and Development Act for renting out the whole flat without approval. Actions that can be taken include imposing a financial penalty or compulsorily acquiring the flat.

3        HDB only has data on bedroom rental from 1 May 2018 as flat owners did not need to seek HDB’s approval for bedroom rental prior to that.

4        The number of bedroom rental approvals granted to SPR households in each year is detailed in Table 1 below:

Table 1: Bedroom Rental Approvals