By Jeanette
Tan | Yahoo!
Newsroom – Fri, Dec
30, 2011
The government on Friday announced a final round
of rebates forHousing and Development Board (HDB) households, and improvements to one of its temporary
rental housing schemes, amid a 2.3 per cent electricity tariff hike
across the board.
It first announced that HDB flat dwellers will
receive the final of four installments in Utilities-Save (U-Save) rebates come next month.
In a statement released by the Ministry of Finance (MOF) on
Friday, it announced the final tranche of some five years of
rebates disbursed to Singaporeans as part of
the GST Offset Package, which began in
2007.
After the final rebates have been disbursed, some
800,000 HDB households in Singapore will have received anywhere
between $255 and $450 each over the past year, as part of the “Grow
and Share” package initiative this year.
Next month, residents of one- and two-room flats
will receive $90 in U-Save rebates, while residents of three-room
flats will be given $50. Four-room flat dwellers will receive $45,
while households of five-room and executive flats will receive $30
and $20 respectively.
The MOF also said in its statement that with the
U-Save scheme, households in four-room and smaller HDB flats have
not seen any increase in their total annual utility bills since
2007, while other HDB households have also enjoyed “significant
offsets”.
Average electricity tariffs to rise by 2.3 per
cent
The U-Save rebates were announced at the same time
as an impending net increase in electricity bills for households in
Singapore islandwide, owing to higher fuel prices.
The average monthly electricity bill for residents
of four-room HDB flats will increase by $2.30, with the tariff
rising from 26.98 to 27.59 cents per kWh.
Energy utility company Singapore Power Services said in a
statement that the increase was necessary in response to a 4.4 per
cent increase in average fuel oil prices over the past three
months.
The company reviews its tariffs on a quarterly basis
based on guidelines set by the Energy Market Authority, Singapore’s
electricity industry regulator, which approves its rate
hikes.
Interim Rental Housing (IRH) measures improved to help needy
families
Minister for National
Development Khaw Boon Wan also announced on
Friday new measures to help better serve families in greater need
of subsidised temporary housing.
The minister shared on his blog his plans to improve
on the existing interim rental housing (IRH)
scheme that was introduced two years ago.
Under the IRH scheme, private operators offer rental
housing at subsidised rates to needy families while being allowed
to lease portions of their flats at market rental rates to other
Singaporeans or foreigners working and studying here, in order to
cover costs. Some 1,500 households fall under this scheme, while
45,000 others stay in HDB’s public rental flats.
Khaw wrote of three main amendments to the scheme,
the first of which includes giving the HDB greater oversight of the
scheme, by limiting the role of private operators to managing
tenancies and premises on the board’s behalf.
He said that HDB will also introduce guidelines that
ensure better pairing of households that share each IRH rental flat
to help minimise conflicts between co-dwelling parties, and extend
the tenancy period from six months to one year, renewable for up to
two years.
“This will reduce the anxiety that families feel,
and give greater certainty to tenants who may need more time to
work out a longer-term housing option,” wrote Khaw, adding that
families who are waiting for their new flat or public rental flat
can renew their tenancies until their flats are ready for them to
move in.
Khaw added that the first IRH site for which these
terms will apply is at Dover Road, which houses about 500 flats.
Private contractors at five other sites will have their leases
honoured until their expiry with HDB.
