In the past five years, more than half of the 4,600 rental households purchased a three-room flat while around a quarter bought a four-room flat. The HDB support team targets to reach out to 1,000 rental households by 2023.
About 4,600 households in public rental flats have acquired their first Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats in the past five years with the help of various housing schemes and grants.
Among the rental tenants, three in four purchased a flat directly from HDB while the rest acquired a resale flat from the open market, reported TODAY citing the HDB.
More than half of the rental households purchased a three-room flat while around a quarter bought a four-room flat.
About two-thirds of the rental tenants acquired a flat with the help of housing grants like the Special CPF Housing Grant (SHG) and the Additional CPF Housing Grant (AHG), which gave up to $40,000 each.
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Others tapped the Enhanced CPF Housing Grant, which was introduced in September 2019 and provides up to $80,000 in financial support, said TODAY
In 2019, the HDB set up a support team – known as the Home Ownership Support Team – targeted at providing more personalised and dedicated support for rental tenants looking to acquire their first homes.
The officers in the team guide rental tenants through the buying process, from the planning stage to the collection of keys.
The officers, among other things, explain the housing policies as well as the grants and assistance schemes available. They also help rental tenants work out a housing budget and options for their acquisition.
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As of 31 December 2020, the team has reached out to 654 tenants, of which 50 have already booked a flat and 27% or 177 households have been assessed to be ready to purchase a flat over the next one to two years.
HDB revealed that the rest of the household are still in the assessment process and are not yet ready to apply for a flat in the near term.
It added that they will continue to track the remaining households’ progress and help them acquire their own home, where feasible.
The support team targets to reach out to 1,000 rental households by 2023, who have been preliminarily assessed to be ready to purchase a flat.
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