SINGAPORE, Jan 9 — Around 58,000 Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats are being rented as whole units and of this number, 16 per cent, or about 9,280 units, are rented out to six unrelated occupants, said Minister of State for National Development Tan Kiat How in Parliament today.
He revealed these November 2023 figures in response to questions by several members of Parliament (MPs) concerned about the potential disamenities resulting from the temporary relaxation of the occupancy cap for unrelated tenants. He also pointed out that the majority of flats remain predominantly owner-occupied with only about 5 per cent of flats rented out as whole units.
In December, HDB announced that the occupancy cap of six unrelated tenants will be temporarily increased to eight unrelated occupants from January 22, 2024 to December 31, 2026 as a way to meet rental demand.
Workers’ Party (WP) MP for Sengkang Group Representation Constituency (GRC) Louis Chua asked about current occupancy cap breaches, while MP for West Coast GRC Foo Mee Har asked if the authorities would limit the number of HDB flats in a block that are allowed to house the new limit to ensure existing infrastructure — such as lift operations and bicycle parking spaces — can cope.
Meanwhile Leader of Opposition Pritam Singh, East Coast GRC MP Cheryl Chan, and Jalan Besar GRC MP Denise Phua raised concerns about neighbourly disputes arising from more occupants living in a unit.
Reassuring the House, Mr Tan said that while the authorities do not yet “have a feel” of how many tenants and landlords would take advantage of the temporary relaxation, they will continue to regulate who is allowed to rent a HDB flat or bedroom to minimise disamenities and to “maintain the Singaporean character” of a HDB estate.
For example, the Government has put in place a non-citizen quota, limiting the number of HDB flats that can be rented to foreigners in each neighbourhood and block to 8 per cent and 11 per cent respectively.
On limiting the number of flats in a HDB block that may tap on the temporarily relaxed occupancy cap to prevent overloading on existing infrastructure, Mr Tan said: “While we do not currently have plans to impose such a cap, the existing non-citizen quota will help to limit the increase in occupants in each block, given that most of those renting at the occupancy caps are non-citizens.”
Currently, he said, about 90 per cent of occupants in these units which hit the unrelated occupancy cap are non-residents.
Noise-related disputes
Several MPs posed questions on the possible rise in complaints on noise-related issues as a result of the increased occupancy.
In response, Mr Tan said that over the past five years, instances of feedback relating to nuisance caused by tenants renting HDB flats or bedrooms constituted just 1.5 per cent of the total feedback on nuisance from neighbours.
Nevertheless, he also acknowledged that tolerance levels and sensitivity to noise are “very complex and multifaceted issues”.
Such issues around noise and disamenities do not only affect occupants renting HDB units, he pointed out.
“If need be, HDB will not hesitate to take firmer action against serious disamenities, including revoking the permission to rent out the flats or bedroom,” said Mr Tan.
Mr Singh also posed a supplementary question requesting for updates on whether a quantitative noise threshold would be established — given possible increases in noise-related complaints, as a result of the revised rental occupancy cap.
He referenced Minister of State for National Development Desmond Lee’s parliamentary reply in January last year about the ministry studying recommendations by the Community Advisory Panel on neighbourhood noise on establishing a possible quantitative noise threshold in the form of decibels.
Mr Tan clarified that he did not have that data on hand and asked Mr Singh to file a separate parliamentary question on the matter.
No strain on HDB infrastructure expected
Ms Foo of West Coast GRC asked if HDB’s infrastructure would be able to cope with the increased occupancy and who would bear responsibility for covering the higher maintenance costs associated with enhancing facilities in affected blocks due to the increased usage of such infrastructure.
Citing earlier statistics about the majority of HDB flats remaining owner-occupied, Mr Tan clarified that the authorities do not expect the operation and maintenance costs of common areas and facilities like lifts and playgrounds to go up significantly.
Mr Singh and Ms Chan also posed supplementary questions on whether the authorities had sufficient manpower capacity for enforcement in the case of disamenities that may arise from the increased occupancy.
Responding to these concerns, Mr Tan said: “We take the feedback of disamenities and complaints seriously, and we will proactively work with the community partners to deal with these matters.
“But again, let me just set in context that as of now, the complaints received resulting from tenancy, rental nuisance-related feedback of neighbours is about 1.5 per cent of all the total feedback received from nuisances caused by neighbours.”
Nevertheless, he said the authorities would continue to take all complaints seriously and work closely with community partners to resolve these, following up with firm action if required.
Beyond this, HDB will continue to conduct its routine, planned inspections of almost 500 flats per month and maintain its high enforcement tempo, said Mr Tan, adding that on average, about 330 instances of enforcement actions have been taken in a year, for the last five years. — TODAY
