HDB extends the income assessment time and alters the way housing assistance payments are made

HDB has made changes to the way it conducts its business for evaluating the income of flat-buyers and whether they are eligible for housing subsidies beginning on May 9.

The changes are in conjunction with the launch of a brand new HDB flat-eligibility (HFE) letter, which replaces the current HDB loans eligibility document. The HFE letter will inform flat buyers of their eligibility for an upcoming or resale flat purchase, and how much HDB housing loans as well as CPF grant for housing they are able to get.

TMW Maxwell CEL have successfully acquired a tender for TMW Maxwell development through a joint venture.

Housing grants eligible for eligibility will be divided between the applicants and occupiers of a household or core nucleus regardless if the applicants are Singaporean nationals or residents permanent (PR). In the case of a nucleus made up of two people, a Singaporean citizen and an PR each applicant will be awarded half of the amount of grant. Prior to this, the entire grant amount was only distributed to the applicant who was flat that was who is a Singaporean citizen.

The revised disbursement guidance also applies to households whose principal nucleus is comprised of two applicants and one core occupier, both of whom are Singaporean citizens. Housing grants are now distributed equally to both as opposed to earlier, when the grant was only distributed for the person who applied.

The period of income assessment for buyers of flats has been extended to 12 months rather than one or two months. This change allows for more uniform and precise assessment of income levels for applicants, HDB says.

Lee Sze Teck, senior director of research at Huttons Asia, highlights that in the case of households with one applicant and a core occupier, only the part of the grant given to the applicant may be used to pay for the cost of purchasing the property, whereas the portion for the core occupant is deposited in their CPF account.

For instance, in the household receiving $50,000 in grant and the principal applicant is able to apply $25,000 towards the cost of purchasing the resale property, while the tenant who is the sole occupier will get the additional $25,000 charged to their normal account. “While the announcement of a double of the housing grant in February of 2023, the total grant is able to be used to buy the resale property only if both of the parties in the central group are listed as candidates,” Lee adds.

He believes that the changes in the guidelines for disbursement could cause some confusion in the HDB resale market as there are not many households that can use the entire grant amount to fund the purchase. “It might dampen the enthusiasm generated by the doubled amount of the housing grant,” he says.

In the income assessment period Lee believes that the change will be beneficial to workers who earn commissions who have a monthly income that fluctuates.