• Home owners can defer monthly payments for up to six months and reduce the monthly instalments.
• HDB officers will provide financial counselling and work out sustainable solutions for home owners in financial difficulties.
• HDB will help these people sell and downgrade their flats. In more dire circumstances, HDB will exercise more flexibility in granting a loan for another purchase, even for downgraders
• Interim rental housing will enable home owners to sell their flats immediately, and buy new, smaller flats. While these are being built, they can move into rental flats, which are priced below market rate.

This article was first published in The New Paper on February 9, 2009.