Pritam Singh 1. During the July 2013 session of parliament, I sought an update from the Minister of National Development about the review of the Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP) for HDB rental units as announced by the Minister to my oral question on the subject in November 2012. 2. The review has determined that that the EIP will be raised by up to 10% points for block limits for HDB rental flats. What this means is that the rental quota has been raised to 97% for Chinese tenants, 35% for Malay tenants and 25% for Indian/Others tenants at the block level, up from 87%, 25% and 15% respectively. 3. This should shorten the waiting times for rental flats for quite a few applicants. Nonetheless, I would advise rental applicants who need a roof over their heads urgently to consider “less popular” areas for early allocation as the current average waiting times for rental flat allocation are 4 months for Chinese applicants, 5 months for Indian/Others applicants and 7 months for Malay applicants. For example, from the experience of my Meet-the-People session cases, the waiting times for Malay applicants tends to be exceedingly long for the Bedok/Tampines areas), a wait that could be even longer depending on the size of the rental flat a applicant has applied for. 3. On a related note, a few months after GE2011, a man by the name of Ravi Philemon, whom I did not know personally, got in touch with me with a marked urgency in his voice about an individual who once resided in Eunos and her urgent need for a HDB rental flat as she was moving from one home to another, unable to get out of a self-perpetuating cycle. My own interest in HDB rental housing policies and the effectiveness of these policies on the ground was partly spurred by the activist work of people like Mr Philemon. It is motivating and reassuring to know that such individuals exist among us, who want to make a difference, for the better, no matter what the issue. Thank you. Links: a. HDB Rental Flat Eligibility Criteria - hdb.gov.sg/fi10/fi10323p.nsf/w/RentDirectHDBEligibility b. My thoughts on public rental housing in Singapore– singapore2025.wordpress/2012/12/28/hdbs-rental-housing-policy-part-1-the-malay-eip-limit/ singapore2025.wordpress/2012/12/30/hdbs-rental-housing-policy-part-2-reviewing-the-system/ c. Parliamentary Question (8 July 2013) Review of Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP) for HDB Rental Flats 16 Mr Pritam Singh asked the Minister for National Development whether the review of the Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP) for HDB rental flats has been completed and, if not, when will it be completed by. Mr Khaw Boon Wan: We have completed the review of the Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP) limits for HDB rental flats. EIP limits are set based on Singapore’s ethnic mix. As the ethnic mix has remained stable over the years, we have decided to retain the existing EIP limits. However, we note that there are vulnerable families whose waiting time for a rental flat may be severely prolonged if we apply the existing EIP limits strictly. We have therefore decided to administratively add up to 10%-points to the block limits for HDB rental flats, so that we can exercise flexibility and allocate more rental flats to such vulnerable families where needed.
Posted on: Mon, 22 Jul 2013 04:41:08 +0000
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