The Straits Times, March 1, 1995
ABOUT 4,000 families have benefited from four government schemes announced last year to help low-income families own Housing Board flats.
Acting National Development Minister Lim Hng Kiang said the government subsidies added up to about $160 million a year, with each family receiving about $35,000.
He spoke to reporters after visiting three Tanglin Halt flats which the Housing Board bought on the open market and sold at a discount to families with monthly incomes not exceeding $1,000.
He said the board might have been conservative in expecting that these families could not afford the flats.
"This has worked out better than we thought. People who bought such flats have quite sizeable CPF savings."
He said the HDB would analyse the financial backgrounds of applicants and if they could afford to pay more, it could buy newer flats in better locations for resale under this scheme.
The other three schemes are:
* The sale of rental flats to sitting tenants:
Mr Lim announced the sale of the fourth batch of rental flats, comprising 235 recently upgraded two and three-room flats in Ang Mo Kio. The two-room units sell for about $26,000 on average, while the three-room flats cost about $65,000.
Tenants are given a 3 per cent discount for each year of tenancy, up to a maximum of 30 per cent or $10,000, whichever is lower. Buyers receive up to 100 per cent mortgage of the discounted price.
* Sale of budget four-room flats:
First offered in the last quarter of 1993, 2,554 of such flats have been offered for sale as of January this year. These flats are about 10 per cent smaller than standard four-room flats, come with simpler fittings and are 15-18 per cent cheaper.
* Priority allocation of flats to HDB tenants:
Those living in rental flats and want to upgrade to three or four-room flats are given a six-month headstart over non-tenant applicants.
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