Figures at a glance

Dip in mortgage arrears

There were 33,670 cases in arrears, or 7.9 per cent out of 426,270 outstanding home loans, in September last year, but only 30,770 cases in arrears, or 7.5 per cent of 409,470 loans, this September.

Lease Buyback Scheme

There were 425 applications by the end of September, compared to 137 at the end of March, and the HDB has approved about 100 so far.

Additional housing grant scheme

The income ceiling was raised from $4,000 to $5,000, and the maximum grant was increased from $30,000 to $40,000 for the buying of both new and resale flats.

Since the scheme was launched in March 2006, more than 18,000 households have benefited and about $286 million has been disbursed as of this September.

More smaller flats

For the year ended March 31, 1,074 units of two- and three-room flats were launched under the build-to-order scheme.

More rental flats

The rental stock will increase from 42,000 to 50,000 units by 2012. So far, 1,567 converted and new rental flats have been completed.

Tightened eligibility rules for rental flats

The number of applicants fell from 4,550 in February to 3,465. The waiting time fell from 21 months a year ago to 13 months as of September.

Lift Upgrading Programme

Good progress has been made, with more than 80 per cent of 5,300 eligible blocks selected.

Home Improvement Programme (HIP), Neighbourhood Renewal Programme (NRP)

As of September, 14,000 flats have been offered HIP and 33,000 offered NRP. Both programmes received strong support level averaging 90 per cent.