Leong Sze Hian
One out of every seven HDB flat owners have problems paying their mortgage loans. This seems to be what the statistics have revealed. Last year, the HDB visited 60,000 flats which had problems paying their loans and gave financial counseling to 35,000 households.
This is 14 per cent of the estimated 420,000 HDB loan mortgages – or one in seven.
As of October last year, 33,000 HDB loans were in arrears over three months. This is about eight per cent of the total number who took HDB loans.
In both instances, the numbers are a cause for concern, especially at this time when Singaporeans are facing job insecurity and spiraling costs.
The number of flats which have been repossessed or surrendered to the HDB because of non-payment of mortgage loans is another worry.
According to a Berita Harian report, 1,350 HDB flats were surrendered to the HDB in the last four years.
In February 2007, Parliament heard that 360 flat owners had voluntarily surrendered their flats from 2002 to 2006.
This means that the average number of flats surrendered per annum has increased from 72 (2002 to 2006) to 318 (2005 to March 2009).
This is an increase of about 342 per cent, or about one flat a day now.
This figure, however, does not include HDB flats on bank loans which are reportedly being foreclosed at about 60 a month. It also does not include those in arrears who have sold their flats in the open market.
HDB profiteering from flat owners’ misery?
When the HDB sends a notice of Compulsory Acquisition to flat owners, they are only given one month to vacate their flats, and only 90 per cent of the flat’s valuation is used to offset the loan arrears.
It is hard enough to lose one’s home. Why does the HDB still want to make a profit of 10 per cent of the valuation?
Why not give them a bit more time to find alternative accommodation?
As a public housing authority with the mission to provide affordable housing for Singaporeans, is the HDB not in a sense, in breach of its fiduciary duty, in this arbitrary practice of eating up 10 per cent of the valuation?
Are there any public housing authorities in the world that takes an additional 10 per cent profit on foreclosure?
Parliamentarians may like to raise this issue with a view to refunding the “eaten up” valuation to all past foreclosed flat owners.
What is the view of bodies like the Law Society of Singapore in this regard?
In view of the above statistics, and with unemployment at a 5-year high of 4.8 per cent, 95,600 unemployed locals, and the record GDP contraction of 19.7 per cent in the first quarter, I would like to suggest that the HDB temporarily freeze asking those in arrears to surrender their flats.
After all, as long as HDB flats appreciate at an average annual rate of more than the HDB concessionary loan rate of 2.6 per cent, every HDB flat may eventually be worth more than the outstanding loan and arrears, particularly when the current 13-year property bear market turns around.
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aiyoyo
news saying :
“Recession far from bottoming out, says PM Lee”
commoners how huh? with sky high flat prices…
aiyoyo
buy a tent & print “HDB” on each facing!! :P
very funny leh!……..in a recession, everything should be falling including HDB price / private homes……but hey! where got logic that HDB resale holding well compared to private………….who controls resale price ?
so looks like in real recession but artifical pricing?………….
I paid the price of a supercar, a 2009 Nissan GTR R35 for a 3 room HDB flat as a Flat LEASEHOLDER.
I have no money left and I am now taking bicyle instead of bus.
more expensive LPPL, worst is even smaller unit. The floor area of smallest 5room now is almost similar to 4 room in the past. Not only that, the floor area are inconsistent.. some 4 room 85sqm, some 92sqm, some 94sqm (got some 100sqm). Look at the freaking designs, on one hand claim sgp is small, but look at the way HDB is building, obvious wasting space.
I paid the price of a supercar, a 2009 Nissan GTR R35 for a 3 room HDB flat as a Flat LEASEHOLDER.
I agree….given opportunity in another country, I could be riding a GTR & staying at landed property ..for the same pay here
102) mice is nice
“those who fail to learn from the lessons of history are condemned to repeat them” some past US President said thes wise words
but think about it, they learnt nothing from Vietnam….
back to SG, maybe HDB is planning to repeat its mistake as many time as they can until they can do a perfect mistake ha ha
hi KopitiamApek,
now i get it, no wonder HDB building higher flats, jump down sure to die. HDB Hub top few floor also very high… :P
Why are we paying so much for X m3 of air bounded by Y m2 of concrete over Z no. of years?
110) mice is nice on
///now i get it, no wonder HDB building higher flats, jump down sure to die. ///
that is a messy way to go. and the poor pple living in the block will be haunted forever by the gruesome sight forever plant in their memory.
It is definitely not a nice sight and very haunting for everbody that has to passby the spots where bodies landed. BUT IN THIS SICKLY SOCIETY, PEOPLE COPY THIS WAY TO END THEIR LIVE, JUST THAT THEY(THE deads) CAN HAUNT THE SICK SOCIETY.
HOW SICK CAN A SOCIETY BE ?
113) ah soh
No one wants to know the gruesome details of such terrible deaths, but they are gruesome. Jumping fromflats , onto path of trains,
and the latest news in bangkok, in closets (but that is a different story)
keke, i will bring this topic back from my off-topic rant… if HDB can be more socially responsible people won’t need to resort to ending their lives.
1. HDB got the financial clout
2. they are providing essential service to the lower strata of our society, therefore it is not right to increase the prices of new units without any clear explaination
if S’pore is to progress as a whole to an advanced country, why is HDB such a huge roadblock?
roof over the head not secure, so 1st world meh? uniquely S’pore?
115) mice is nice
I like to share what the acronym HDB stands for but it is not suitable for posting
huh iszit sell it to me lah but only problems is the bank loan
better off than staying in a one room hdb flat for $700 monthly
the hdb better think twice before they replying us the cock tear
letter..
不要老是爱把单身妈妈为国家生了个小孩说到是不守妇道之事
为国家添一个健康的宝宝还要被无理头的政府批评得一文不值。。
有帮个忙还没话说。。就连一个落脚的地方都没有更不用说婴儿花红。。
也不是说没找过MP商量。。我邻里的邻居大大小小都说MP最大才有POWER
现在大伙都不敢再跟我说去MP了因为大家已经输给我很多钱了那是他们猜输
以为MP 才有power ranger
都快三年了HDB不但无动于衷还不是那样一句 批评的话不但如此还答非所问。
读书少的你们就会说生的孩子会是个傻子。没有爸爸的你们还是要嫌那是个捏种
你们最善常的一句话家庭价值观就把我和我孩子变成半年的街边路氓。也不见得
读书多的就会为新加坡生育。。老人很重要吗为什么又不推荐老人生孩子呢
三年的时间我们把冤枉钱花在政府的一房式。 如果是这样的话为什么我们的人民
行动党不要强制性呼吁大家堕胎呢还没来得那么残忍嘛
Hi, 7) Ghim Moh resident
You posted on on May 30th, 2009 3.08 pm that the costs of your estate (Ghim Moh) when it was built in 1977 were:
• 3-room flat SGD10,000
• 4-room flat SGD20,000
• 5-room flat SGD30,000
Are these figures accurate? Where did you obtain the info? And the prices are cost prices then and not adjusted for inflation right?
Thank you.
True story (happened just yesterday).
Friend of mine had registered for a flat with his wife-to-be. Everything was done and settled and signed, the flat was to be their dream home after marriage.
Two days ago, she decided to leave him.
Now they’re looking at a 140k bill from HDB, plus penalties. Does this make sense to anyone? I mean all the legalese and mumbojumbo aside, is it ethical to expect someone to pay a hundred and forty thousand dollars for NOTHING. He won’t even get a tile from his new house. He can’t even just service the loan himself. He MUST forfeit the house and they MUST pay 140k, though she wanted to leave him, and not the other way round.
If the powers that be can explain this, I will never criticise the MIW again.
My dear Mr. Leong, I would like to add one more point to highlight the shot-coming or simply a serious flaw in the hdb’s valuation policy as well as short-changing on the lessee in hdb’s *compulsory acquisition* of flat when calculating the compensation value, as under “existing policy” hdb based on the valuation report produced by the approved valuer under the approved valuer list solely and discreetly decided by hdb to compensate the lessee when acquiring his flat.
In valuation industry, it is an “unwritten common understanding” among the “approved cum certified valuers” that the value of the hdb flat will be marked down substantially when the “production” of valuation report is being instructed by hdb officers for the “purpose” of compulsory acquisition! As if the valuer values the flat on the higher end it will appear that the valuer is short changing hdb which is a public housing authority directly under the charge of ministry of national development! In short, how dare you to “cheat” the “state”?
Last but not least, will different certified valuers produce the **same** valuation value when valuing the same property? Since, this is the case, which valuer’s valuation report should be adopted when compensating the lessee? Is it by drawing lot to see whether the lessee is lucky or unlucky to have his flat values higher or lower in relation to the appointment of relevant approved valuer? Is the lessee over or under compensated when different valuers have different opinions on the value of the property to be valued? In short, mnd and hdb should check out what is the true meaning of compulsory acquisition and compensation amount prior to adopting the valuer’s opinion!
As I emphasis again and again, the valuation report for a property is JUST the “opinion” of the certified valuer and nothing else! So, the mnd and hdb is adopting someone’s opinions to compensate the lessee, is it fair? Is it logical? Is it scientific?
In short the blind is leading the blind for so many “donkey” years? In view of the above, do you opine that hdb needs a total re-invention in order to remain relevant in this modern and scientific society? Oh, dear, to a larger extent the whole valuation industry!
I hope I am not offending anyone in this industry! Keep my fingers cross! Be objective with no prejudice!
Politicians Are Preaching,
Preaching About Policies,
Policies About Properties,
Public Assisted Properties!
People Are Perturbed,
Perturbed About Prices,
Perturbed About Practices,
Prudence Absent Practices.
People Are Peeved,
Peeved About Politicians,
Politicians Aren’t Preventing,
Preventing Arising Prices.
People Are Presuming,
Politicians Are Profiteering,
Profiteering Amidst Probings,
Profiteering Amidst Pain.
Probings Are Prevented,
Policies Assisted Prevention.
People Are Peeved,
Peeved About Prices,
Prices And Prizes.
The fact that such rules exist prove that HDB is cannibalizing its customers that is Singaporeans.
The reason why it is doing that is because its bosses do not think that it is immoral to do so and actually benefited from it (for one, it covers the supposedly hole in HDB finances). This shows that its bosses such as Lui and MBT are immoral and heartless people.
The fact that their bosses that is LHL are allowing them to do that shows that LHL is incompetent and he needs the monies.
You can go figure out where that hole is.