Update on Implementation and Take-up Rate of Parenthood Provisional Housing Scheme
Ministry of National DevelopmentSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns the Parenthood Provisional Housing Scheme (PPHS), with Mr Gan Thiam Poh inquiring about beneficiary numbers, co-sharing statistics, and rental appeals. Minister Lawrence Wong reported that 1,860 families have used the scheme since 2013, with 630 having moved into permanent HDB flats. Most families do not co-share, and out of 28 rental reduction appeals, 22 families were assisted via lower-rent units or the Interim Rental Housing scheme. Supply was increased by 800 flats in June 2015 to a total of 1,950, which currently suffices to meet the demand of eligible families. The Ministry will continue to review the PPHS supply based on the availability of flats and demand trends to ensure the scheme remains effective.
Transcript
106 Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked the Minister for National Development (a) how many families have benefited from the Parenthood Provisional Housing Scheme (PPHS) since its launch; (b) how many of these families have since moved out to their new HDB flats; (c) how many families co-share with another family temporarily in one flat and how many are without co-sharing; (d) how many families have made appeals for rental reductions and what is the number of successful and unsuccessful appeals respectively; and (e) whether more flats will be made available for PPHS.
Mr Lawrence Wong: About 1,860 families have benefited from the Parenthood Provisional Housing Scheme (PPHS) since its launch in January 2013, and 630 families have since moved into their new Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats.
Almost all families in PPHS do not co-share. So far, only 16 families have taken up the co-sharing option since its introduction in November 2014.
Overall, 28 families have appealed for rental reductions. HDB encourages families who appeal for lower rent to consider co-sharing with another eligible family. For those in financial hardship, HDB may assist them with Interim Rental Housing which has even lower rents. Of the 28 families, HDB assisted 22 families with these measures or by transferring them to a PPHS flat with a lower rent. The remaining six chose to remain in their PPHS flats.
From June 2015, we increased the PPHS supply by about 800 flats. Currently, we have about 1,950 PPHS flats in total. We will continue to review the supply, considering the availability of flats and demand for PPHS. Thus far, the supply has been sufficient to meet demand.