Applications under Scheme to Buy Back Units from Ethnic Integration Policy-constrained Flat Owners
Ministry of National DevelopmentSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns the statistics and outcomes of the HDB buyback scheme for Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP)-constrained owners, as raised by Ms He Ting Ru. Minister for National Development Mr Desmond Lee reported that 411 EIP-related appeals were received in 2022, involving 14% Chinese, 25% Malay, and 61% Indian/Others ethnic groups. Out of 128 successful appeals, HDB bought back four flats, while other applicants were often ineligible due to insufficient ownership duration or lack of regular selling attempts. The Minister explained that HDB also provides assistance through EIP waivers and time extensions to help owners who face genuine difficulties. HDB continues to offer these measures to manage ethnic proportions in blocks while supporting affected flat owners.
Transcript
20 Ms He Ting Ru asked the Minister for National Development since the introduction of the scheme to buy back HDB flats from eligible Ethnic Integration Policy-constrained flat owners who have difficulty selling their flats (a) how many applications have been received under the scheme; (b) what is the breakdown by ethnic groups; and (c) how many flats have been successfully sold back to HDB.
Mr Desmond Lee: The Housing and Development Board (HDB) provides a range of assistance measures for flat owners who face genuine difficulties selling their flats when the Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP) quotas have been reached. These include giving EIP-constrained flat owners more time to sell off their existing flat if they have purchased another one or waiving the EIP limits in exceptional circumstances to allow them to sell their flat to buyers from any ethnic group. In cases where waiving the EIP limit may lead to further imbalances in the proportion of the various ethnic groups in blocks or neighbourhoods, HDB may consider buying back flats from eligible EIP-constrained flat owners.
In 2022, HDB received 411 EIP-related appeals: 14% of the appeals were from the Chinese ethnic group, 25% from the Malay ethnic group and 61% from the Indian/Others ethnic group. HDB acceded to 128 of the appeals, of which four of them were assisted through the buyback assistance measure. Most of the remaining cases were ineligible as the flat owners did not make regular attempts to sell their flats over a continuous period or had yet to own their flats for at least 10 years.
HDB will continue to extend assistance measures to flat owners who face genuine difficulties selling their flat when the EIP quotas have been reached.