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Is the increase in Singapore's property prices due to HDB flats being abused?
Dec 24, 2022
Is the increase in Singapore's property prices due to HDB flats being abused? Singapore
By   Internet
  • City News
  • Rental Resale
  • Rental Housing Prices
  • Rental Housing Status
Abstract: Recently, Singapore's Minister for National Development, Lee Chee Sing, personally posted on his Facebook page that HDB flats cannot be sold directly after 5 years without being lived in. He urged people to call the toll-free hotline to the HDB if they suspect that a HDB flat is being abused.

What is this all about and why did Singapore's Minister for National Development suddenly issue a personal response? It started with a HDB flat transaction a few days ago.


Recently, a five-bedroom corner flat at Block 505A, 51st Street, Yishun, was sold for S$690,000 (about Rp3.45 million) on Property Guru.


The pictures were released and netizens found that the HDB flat, which was pre-ordered 8 years ago, was still "as good as new", with no electricity, water, flooring, and even the plastic sheet of the toilet lid had not been removed!


This incident instantly triggered a hot debate on the Internet, the agent responsible for the sale of this house revealed that this is a couple bought, after the business money, the family lived in a new home, so that the room was vacant.

Many people were angry about this statement from the real estate agent. Some netizens think that it is these people who have a house and don't live in it that indirectly cause the price of housing to increase and hope that the government will control it.


Other netizens think that buying HDB flats at a discounted price from BTO for resale at a profit is really irritating and destroys the market.


Some people even said on Lee Chee Sing's Facebook page that their neighbors 25 years ago did the same thing, not living in the house, but through various ways to show that they were living in it, and then sold it for a profit after reaching a set time.


Although HDB has issued various regulations to prevent such incidents from happening, it is easy to see from the comments that there are many people who take advantage of HDB flats for resale.


In fact, HDB has been conducting regular spot checks and if any of the offending owners are found, they will be given a written warning and a fine of up to S$50,000, or in more serious cases, they will be forced to repossess their homes.


However, since some pre-purchased HDB flats are slightly decorated, it is not too obvious even if you don't live there.


For real estate agents, having a home to deal with is the most important thing, and it is not very demanding whether the owner lives in it or not.


It can be said that the HDB flats are now bought by some people to make money from investment, but many people who really need it cannot wait for the housing, which is really infuriating, and it is no wonder that this incident can cause such a hot debate.

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Is the increase in Singapore's property prices due to HDB flats being abused?
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