HDB abolishes sibling scheme

HDB abolishes sibling scheme
By Satish Cheney | Posted: 14 February 2011 1900 hrs

SINGAPORE: Unmarried Singaporean and Permanent Resident (PR) siblings whose parents live overseas can no longer buy a new or resale HDB flat, from Monday.

The government said they can either rent a room or a small flat from the open market.

It said with the liberalisation of the subletting market for HDB flats over the years, the Citizen-Singapore PR sibling scheme, introduced since 1990, is now no longer necessary.

Previously, the government allowed unmarried Singaporean siblings to buy a new or resale HDB flat, while PR siblings could buy a resale flat on a case-by-case basis with certain conditions attached.

Senior Minister of State for National Development & Education Grace Fu said: "As HDB has been very stringent in assessing applications for this scheme, the number of such cases is small.

"There are about 300 cases each year, or less than one per cent of total flat transactions".

-CNA/wk

- wong chee tat :)