The Housing and Development Board or HDB has reported a more
than two billion dollar deficit before government grants in its
latest annual report.
This is more than double the loss reported in the previous
financial year.
The deficit is reduced after factoring in a two billion dollar
government grant.
Joanne Chan has the details.
Responding to greater demand for public housing, HDB ramped up its
supply of flats, pushing out 8,000 units under Build-To-Order
projects between April last year and March this year.
That's 2,000 more than what it supplied the year
before.
HDB CEO Tay Kim Poh says this increase in flats supply largely
accounted for the housing board's larger deficit.
The other reason is because in FY 08, we do experience an increase
in our construction costs. So that also lead to higher tender rates
for our building contracts.
Other reasons that contributed to HDB's loss include upgrading
works for lifts and rental flats.
Mr Tay was speaking at a media briefing on the board's latest
annual report.
He noted that the mortgage arrears rate dipped to 7.5 per cent
despite the global downturn.
Mr Tay says the 0.4 percentage point drop was partly due to the
introduction of trained housing counsellors to help home owners
find a long-term housing solution.
Associate Director of ERA Asia Pacific, Eugene Lim, offered another
reason.
"Currently HDB resale prices are at an all time high. So there was
an upswing in the market since the beginning of this year. And what
happens is that those households in arrears probably made use of
this opportunity to sell their flat and downgrade to a flat that
they can afford."
Another area highlighted was the shorter waiting time for rental
flats.
HDB says that after it tightened eligibility rules earlier this
year, the number of applicants fell by a thousand.
Waiting time for a rental flat has been shortened to just slightly
over a year, down from a previous high of 21 months.
Moving forward, HDB says it will focus on improving community
relations.
A new department has been set up within the housing board to look
at strengthening social cohesion and integrating newcomers.
HDB says it's "encouraged" by the response to the Lease Buyback
Scheme launched in March this year.
As at end September, 425 applications were received.
And so far, approval has been given to more than a hundred of
them.
The housing board gave the update at a media briefing on its latest
annual report.
Some 25,000 households are eligible for the scheme.
But HDB CEO, Tay Kim Poh, says the elderly have other options to
monetise their flats.
"Some of them will sublet their entire flat and the rental for even
the three-room flat is very good nowadays. They can easily get
$1,500 per month from the rental and they move in to stay with
their children."
The lease buyback scheme is targeted at HDB lessees in 2-room and
3-room flats.
It allows less well-off elderly Singaporeans to receive $5,000 in
cash upfront and a lifelong stream of monthly annuity payouts.
--938Live