WE REFER to the letter by Ms Li Shan, 'Adopt fairer income criterion for HDB grant' (ST, Feb14).
The Housing Board provides housing loans at concessionary interest rate and the Central Provident Fund housing grant to assist eligible first-time applicants to buy a resale flat from the open market.
To qualify, among other conditions, the applicants should have a household income not exceeding $8,000 per month. This is to ensure an equitable distribution of housing subsidies.
In Ms Li's case, the HDB had earlier exercised flexibility in allowing her and her fiance to apply for the CPF housing grant and the HDB concessionary loan to buy a resale flat, although their household income had slightly exceeded the income ceiling.
Following the earlier in-principle approval, their household income has risen further. Besides the incorporation of the fixed annual bonus into the monthly salary, the monthly basic salary of her fiance has also been increased.
The HDB is currently reviewing their appeal for the concessionary loan and the CPF housing grant.
Ms Li also suggested using the total fixed cash component, which includes all allowances and fixed bonuses on an annual basis, to assess the applicants' income. We will take these into consideration in our regular review of the policies. We thank her for her feedback.
Loh Swee Heng
Deputy Director (Resale)
for Director (Estate Administration & Property)
Housing & Development Board
