Written Answer by Ministry of National Development on whether HDB will consider revising the eligibility criteria for HDB rental flats and increase the household income ceiling to align with ComCare assistance schemes

Feb 2, 2021

Mr Don Wee: To ask the Minister for National Development whether HDB will consider revising the eligibility criteria for HDB rental flats and increase the household income ceiling from $1,500 to $1,900 to align with ComCare assistance schemes.

Answer:

HDB takes a needs-based approach in assessing requests for public rental flats, and the $1,500 income guideline is not a hard cap or ceiling. Individuals with income  exceeding $1,500 can still apply for a public rental flat. HDB will evaluate each application holistically and consider factors such as whether the applicant has other housing options.

The income thresholds across social assistance schemes differ as the schemes meet different needs and have different target groups. For the Public Rental Scheme, we use $1,500 as a guideline because first-timer households with this income are generally able to buy a new flat with the help of our generous housing grants, and we want to encourage them to own their own homes.