Indranee Rajah on Parenthood Provisional Housing Scheme
Open market rents have stayed broadly stable prior to the COVID-19 pandemic but have increased in the past three years due to unprecedented supply-side constraints and increased rental demand arising from COVID-19, said Second Minister for National Development Indranee Rajah. Replying to MPs’ questions in Parliament on Tuesday (Apr 2), she said the average year-on-year increase in open market rents for three-room, four-room and five-room HDB flats was five per cent in 2021. This increased to 35 per cent in 2022 amid the easing of border restrictions and recovery of non-resident rental demand. Ms Indranee pointed out that HDB has implemented a suite of measures to support households who need rental accommodation. These include increasing private and public housing supply, temporarily relaxing the occupancy cap for larger HDB flats and private residential properties and ramping up the supply of rental flats under the Parenthood Provisional Housing Scheme (PPHS). She said public and private housing rents have shown signs of stabilising. The average year-on-year increase in open market rents for three-room, four-room and five-room HDB flats was 10 per cent in 2023. She highlighted the PPHS as a temporary housing option for families with less income at their disposal to rent a flat while waiting for their HDB flats to be completed. She said HDB is working to double the supply of PPHS flats from about 2,000 units currently to about 4,000 units by 2025. Meanwhile, it will introduce the PPHS (Open Market) Voucher Scheme as a temporary measure. The scheme will run for one year from July 2024 and eligible families will receive S$300 per month. Families must be eligible for PPHS and have a rental tenancy registered with HDB. Ms Indranee said the PPHS Voucher parameters have been carefully calibrated to provide some relief for eligible families, while mitigating the potential inflationary impact on the rental market. The S$7,000 income ceiling targets support at families with less income at their disposal to rent on the open market. Given the voucher quantum of S$300 per month, eligible families will receive up to S$3,600 if they qualify for the full year of support. Ms Indranee said there are currently no plans to raise the income ceiling of S$7,000 or offer a higher voucher quantum. Households with incomes above S$7,000 but have additional expenses due to exceptional circumstances may approach HDB for help. It will consider such applications on a case-by-case basis.
Open market rents have stayed broadly stable prior to the COVID-19 pandemic but have increased in the past three years due to unprecedented supply-side constraints and increased rental demand arising from COVID-19, said Second Minister for National Development Indranee Rajah. Replying to MPs’ questions in Parliament on Tuesday (Apr 2), she said the average year-on-year increase in open market rents for three-room, four-room and five-room HDB flats was five per cent in 2021. This increased to 35 per cent in 2022 amid the easing of border restrictions and recovery of non-resident rental demand. Ms Indranee pointed out that HDB has implemented a suite of measures to support households who need rental accommodation. These include increasing private and public housing supply, temporarily relaxing the occupancy cap for larger HDB flats and private residential properties and ramping up the supply of rental flats under the Parenthood Provisional Housing Scheme (PPHS). She said public and private housing rents have shown signs of stabilising. The average year-on-year increase in open market rents for three-room, four-room and five-room HDB flats was 10 per cent in 2023. She highlighted the PPHS as a temporary housing option for families with less income at their disposal to rent a flat while waiting for their HDB flats to be completed. She said HDB is working to double the supply of PPHS flats from about 2,000 units currently to about 4,000 units by 2025. Meanwhile, it will introduce the PPHS (Open Market) Voucher Scheme as a temporary measure. The scheme will run for one year from July 2024 and eligible families will receive S$300 per month. Families must be eligible for PPHS and have a rental tenancy registered with HDB. Ms Indranee said the PPHS Voucher parameters have been carefully calibrated to provide some relief for eligible families, while mitigating the potential inflationary impact on the rental market. The S$7,000 income ceiling targets support at families with less income at their disposal to rent on the open market. Given the voucher quantum of S$300 per month, eligible families will receive up to S$3,600 if they qualify for the full year of support. Ms Indranee said there are currently no plans to raise the income ceiling of S$7,000 or offer a higher voucher quantum. Households with incomes above S$7,000 but have additional expenses due to exceptional circumstances may approach HDB for help. It will consider such applications on a case-by-case basis.
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