Friday, March 5, 2010

New quota for PRs buying resale HDB flats: Mah

To prevent foreign enclaves from forming in HDB estates, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) will introduce a new quota for permanent resident (PR) families buying resale flats, Mah Bow Tan, Minister for National Development said on Friday.

Mr Mah said even though PR enclaves are not a problem today, precautionary measures should be put in place early.

PRs will be subject to quotas of 5 per cent and 8 per cent at the neighbourhood and block levels respectively.

A PR family cannot buy a flat if the neighbourhood or block already has 5 per cent or 8 per cent of flats owned by other PR-PR families.

The quota will only apply to non-Malaysian PRs. Malaysians are excluded, because of Singapore's close historical and cultural links.

In 2009, PRs make up 14 per cent of Singapore's resident population. But PR families own only 5 per cent of HDB flats.

Source: Business Times, 5 Mar 2010

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