These figures were given by Minister of State for National Development Maliki Osman in response to questions by MP for Hougang, Png Eng Huat, on HDB flat rentals.
SINGAPORE: As at Jan 31, 87,900 households have rented out their flat, or one or more rooms. Ninety-two per cent of these are Singaporean households, while the remaining 8 per cent are owned by permanent residents. Since January 2013, the Housing Development Board (HDB) has disallowed permanent residents from subletting their entire flats.
These figures were given by Minister of State for National Development Maliki Osman in Parliament on Thursday (Feb 12), in response to questions by MP for Hougang, Png Eng Huat, on HDB flat rentals. Mr Png had also asked how HDB would ensure that flats are properly rented out, and that the number of occupants and tenancy lengths were also within legal limits.
Dr Maliki said: "Every lessee of the flat knows the regulations and as they are subletting the rooms, they are supposed to register the number of tenants that they have in their rooms. HDB monitors that quite closely. We also require the help of local grassroots to let us know should the tenancy breach the agreement set out by the HDB ... so that we can continue to enforce when necessary."
- CNA/ms
Source: Channel NewsAsia (13 Feb 2015)