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BYRACHEL CHAN
FIRST-TIME flat buyers
will be able to select theirflats more speedily as the
Housing Board will halve thetime required for the applica-tion
process.
For Build-To-Order (BTO)projects launched from thismonth on,
applicants will knowtheir queue number in the third
week after the public launch amonth earlier than in the cur-rent
process, revealed NationalDevelopment Minister MahBow Tan
yesterday.
Applicants would then beable to select their flat the fol-lowing
week, instead of havingto wait nine weeks from thelaunch date, as
is the currentpractice.
This is expected to reducethe number of applicants whoa p pl y f
o r multiple BT Oprojects, as they can now gaugemore quickly the
chances of get-ting a flat before the next BTO
exercise closes.HDB will also be ramping upflat supply for the
first sixmonths this year, offering
14,000 BTO flats instead of the11,000 initially planned.
Families buying a flat for thefirst time, and who have
lowerincomes, will get a further legup from the Government.
HDB will raise the incomeceiling for the purchase oft hr ee -r
oo m B T O f l at s i nnon-mature estates, from$3,000 to
$5,000.
Thisrevised ceiling is applica- b l e t o t he B TO p ro je ct
slaunched in Sengkang andBukit Panjang on Monday. Eligi-
ble applicants who have submit-ted their application to buy
afour-room or five-room flat canstill change their minds, andHDB
will waive the applicationfee for re-submission.
Low-income families earning$2,250 or less will also
receiveadditional assistance in theform of a new Special
HousingGrant (SHG). The grant, whichr an ge s f ro m $ 5, 00 0 t
o$20,000, will be given on top ofexisting housing subsidies
in-cluding the Additional Housing
Grant (AHG), which is given tofirst-time flat buyers
whosehousehold income does not ex-ceed $5,000 a month.
This move will benefit about25 per cent of
Singaporeanhouseholds, said Mr Mah.
SHG recipients can buy onlys ta nd ar d t wo -r oo m a n
dthree-room flats in non-matureestates, to ensure financialprudence
and to prevent re-sale-flat prices from being driv-en up. Those
earning a house-hold income of $1,500 and be-low will be allowed to
buy onlythe two-room flats.
According to HDBs list, thenon-mature estates are: BukitBatok,
Hougang, Jurong East,
Yishun, Bukit Panjang, ChoaChu Kang, Jurong West, Sem-
bawang, Sengkang, Woodlandsand Punggol.
In response to Members of
Parliament who asked foran up-date on the average waitingtime
for rental flats, Mr Mahsaid that it has been reducedfrom 21 months
in 2008 toeight months this year.
[email protected]
FOR MORE REPORTS, SEECHINESE SECTION ON B1, B6 & B7
IN P A R L IA ME N T
1st-time home
buyers get topick flats faster
BYCHRISTINANG
DIVERSIFYING the sources ofSingapores food and encoura-ging
local farming are strategiesthat ensure the countrys food-supply
resilience amid globalhikes in food prices, Senior Par-liamentary
Secretary for Nation-al Development Mohamad Ma-
liki Osman said yesterday.He was addressing the con-
cernsof several Members of Par-
liament who asked whether Sin-gapore has an adequate foodsupply
at a time of natural disas-ters in other parts of the world.
Dr Maliki said Singaporesfood supply is already diversi-fied as
vegetables, fish and eggsare imported from differentcountries. For
instance, a largeproportion of the vegetableshere come from China
and theUnited States.
He added that the Govern-ment is encouraging companies
here to move into upstreamsourcing through contract farm-ing an
agreement between buy-ers and farmers that sets theamount and price
of produce.
While Singapore cannot befully self-sufficient in food
pro-duction, the country can achievesome degree of
self-sufficiencyin three key produce: eggs, fishand leafy
vegetables.
He said the country currentlyproduces 23 per cent of theeggs, 4
per cent of the fish and 7
per cent of the leafy vegetablesit needs. But there is still
some
way to go to reach the targets of30 per cent for eggs, 15 per
centfor fish and 10 per cent for leafy
vegetables.Meanwhile, the Retail Price
Watch Group was formed re-cently to keep a close watch onretail
prices and address con-cerns of allegedly excessive pric-
es for daily neccessities and fooditems, he said.
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DEADLINE GIVEN FOR KTMBTO LEAVE RAILWAY STATION
FOREIGN Minister George Yeohas set a firm deadline forKeretapi
Tanah Melayu Berhad(KTMB) to vacate the historicTanjong Pagar
Railway Station:July 1.
It will relocate its operationsto the Woodlands Train
Check-point. A schedule has beendrawn up and work on someaspects of
the implementation
has already started.
Several developments alongthe main railway line, includingthe
redevelopment of Silat Estateand the expansion of One Northbusiness
park in Buona Vista,will begin after July 1.
Mr Yeo added that Singaporecan look forward to morecooperation
in different areas
that will bring economic andother benefits to Malaysiansand
Singaporeans.
Steps already taken to ensure food-supply resilience
CEA TO EDUCATE HOMEBUYERS AND SELLERS
THE Council for Estate Agencies(CEA) will conduct seminars
andpublish consumer guides for homebuyers and sellers.
It has licensed about 1,400property firms and registeredover
31,000 salesmen since itbegan operations last October.
The Ministry of NationalDevelopment is also consideringcoming up
with new guidelinesfor showflats and sales material.
HDB TO ADD 5,000 CARPARKSPACES TO EASE CONGESTION
TO TACKLE crowding in heartlandcarparks, the Housing Board
hasbegun building 5,000 new carparkspaces at a cost of $66
million.
A total of 1,600 spaces havealready been completed, with1,800 to
be ready this year and
the rest by next year. HDB will
also install the Electronic ParkingSystem in another 300
existingcarparks to regulate short-termparking demand.
PARLIAMENT BRIEFS
HOME IMPROVEMENT FORHDB FLATS TO BE SPED UP
HE Ministry of National Deve-opment will double the pace ofhe
Home Improvement Pro-ramme (HIP), with a total of 28rojects to be
selected nextear, up from 14 per year overhe last two years.
By 2014, 35 projects will bearried out annually. At thisace, up
to 60 per cent of theligible precincts remainingfter this years
selection or60,000 households willenefit from HIP by 2016.
MORE HELP FOR BUILDERSO INVEST IN TECHNOLOGY
O GET more construction firmso invest in technology, the
Mi-istry of National Development
will raise the level of fundingupport under the Mechani-ation
Credit Scheme, theuilding Information Modellingund and the
Productivity
mprovement Project Scheme.
EGISTER ONLINE WITH MFAF YOU PLAN TO TRAVEL
INGAPOREANS who travelverseas should e-register with
he Ministry of Foreign AffairsMFA) so that assistance can
beendered in an emergency, saidoreign Minister George Yeo.
He added that Singaporeansverseas are instinctively linking
p among themselves, in theght of the recent Egypt protestswhere
MFA worked with other
rganisations to evacuate 238ingaporeans there.
HELPDESKMultiple: du c
Gauge: pn dun
Leg up: bng zh
Financial prudence: shn shn l ci
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HOUSING GRANTS FOR THE LOW-INCOME
SOURCE: HOUSING & DEVELOPMENT BOARD
Flat typeseligible toapplicantswith SHG
Amountof housing grant(Ontop of thehousing subsidyenjoyed in
buyinga flatfrom theHDB)
AHG*(Current)
SHG(New)
Total
2-roomstandardflatsin non-matureestatesboughtfrom HDB
Notmorethan $1,500 $40,000
$35,000
$35,000
$30,000
$60,000
$50,000
$45,000
$35,000
$20,000
$15,000
$10,000
$5,000
$1,501 to$1,750
$1,751 to$2,000
$2,001 to$2,250
2-room or 3-roomstandard flats innon-matureestatesboughtfrom
HDB
3-room standardflatsin non-mature estatesbought fromHDB**
*AHG is available forall flattypes, regardless of whether
theflat is boughtfromHDB oron the openmarket,or if itis a flat
builtunderthe Design, BuildandSellScheme (DBSS) by a
privatedeveloper.
**The current income ceiling for 2-room flats is set at $2,000
per month.
Averagemonthlyhouseholdincomein yearprecedingflatapplication
FRIDAY MARCH 4, 2011 A4
