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SINGAPORE – About 370 families living in public rental flats have applied for rental assistance each month from January to July this year, National Development Minister Desmond Lee said on Friday (September 4).
During the same period, the Housing Board (HDB) cut rents for 325 homes.
This reduced rent will apply for the remainder of the home’s current rental period, up to three years.
Some 1,470 families a month received or renewed rental assistance from ComCare, it added.
These figures were provided by Mr. Lee in a written parliamentary response to the Workers’ Party deputy He Ting Ru (Sengkang GRC), who requested an update on the number of households that have applied for help paying rent this year.
Lee, who is also the Minister in charge of Integration of Social Services, said that the HDB will help public rental homes to get the assistance they need and is continuously monitoring the situation.
Ms. He also asked if the HDB is considering temporarily freezing the tenants’ rent.
To that, Lee said that public rental rates are highly subsidized.
“Rents are never increased within the lease term, but can be lowered at any time if household income decreases. Rents are reviewed only at tenancy renewal, which occurs every two to three years,” he said.
Any household struggling to pay rent should approach their local HDB branch for help, he added.
In May, it was reported that around 5,200, or one in 10, public rental households did not pay their rent on time.
About three out of four of these households, generally low-income families, owe less than $ 3,000 in rent.
About half owes less than a year’s rent.
HDB also helped 159 families move from two-bedroom to one-bedroom apartments in the past three years.
Then-Minister of National Development Lawrence Wong said HDB takes a “compassionate and holistic approach” to helping these tenants and will seek to understand their individual circumstances.
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