1.350 HDB flats repossesed since 2005, 6,500 in arrears between 2-6 years

[SNAblog]

http://www.salary.sg/2009/1350-hdb-flats-returned-since-2005/

Posted in Salary.sg

News reported in Berita Harian today.
http://cyberita.asia1.com.sg/singapura/story/0,3617,141062,00.html

Here is the English translation:

A total of 1,350 HDB flats have to be returned to HDB since 2005 following the failure of the owners to service their mortgage installments.

In fact, currently there are around 6,500 families in arrears of between two to four years.

Last year, HDB officials have had more than 60,000 visits to the units of those that failed to pay and conducted more than 35,000 interview sessions and counselling for the said problem.

Therefore, house owners which are in arrears are advise to meet up with HDB immediately, urged the Parliamentary Secretary (National Development), Dr. Mohamad Maliki Osman.

Dr. Maliki said that those affected should not delay in seeking help so that the problem does not become worse.

“We understand their predicament and are concerned because this situation depends on how long the recession will last,” said Dr Maliki when being interviewed in his office by Berita Harian recently.

“If they are able to justify the problems faced, for instance, unemployment, this issue can be resolved”.

“The challenge is if the difficulty they face is long termed, they will be having bigger problems, like negative equity,” said Dr Maliki.

Negative equity is the situation where the valuation of the flat is lower than the mortgage that was took out on the property.

If the owner sells the flat in negative equity, they will still be left in the problem of owing HDB.

What is of more concern is when the affected group kept quiet and refused to negotiate with HDB on the way to settle the mortgate, and subsequently served the Compulsory Acquisition (CA) - marking their flats for repossession.

Berita Harian was informed that if the owner was served the CA, they might be given a notice period of one month only to move out. The owner would also have to bear additional cost, including lawyer charges.

Valuation on the affected property will be made and HDB will compensate the owner up to 90 percent of the property.

To prevent this, Dr Maliki said that a few steps can be taken.

Firstly, the owner can appeal to HDB to reduce the monthly installment temporarily, at the same time, preventing the property from being sold-off or reposessed.

Secondly, the husband and wife needs to be committed to find jobs that can sustain the increasing household expenses.

Thirdly, if they need to sell the property, or of it was reposessed, they should arrange with their immediate family for a place to stay temporarily, until they find a smaller flat to move in to.

“The most important message here is that as a house owner, one should be prudent in planning the purchase in accordance to one’s ability”

“We are organizing buying and selling seminars, and ensuring that our housing agents are qualified and trained, so that buyers are well advised,” said Dr Maliki.

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Question: Why there is no yearly breakdown of HDB flats being repossessed?

 

[singveld]

i have a friend who seem to be trouble paying hdb too

but he told me that hdb is gov. so will never possess his flat.

he does not have money to buy hdb , have to borrow money to pay for deposit.

almost all his salary use to pay hdb, when he lose his job, bang.

 

[LonewolfAlfa]

i have a friend who seem to be trouble paying hdb too

but he told me that hdb is gov. so will never possess his flat.

he does not have money to buy hdb , have to borrow money to pay for deposit.

almost all his salary use to pay hdb, when he lose his job, bang.

i know someone like that too. he bought a 5 room hdb and soon after he lost his job.

so he partioned up the flat so that it now has 5 bedrooms. 3 normal + 2 small. his family sleeps in the master bedroon and he rents out the other 4.

now he stays home all day happily playing with his 2 kids and mmorpg while his wife does some part job.

 

[CPTMiller]

Rental housing market also not that good nowadays.
It is hard to find suitable tenants

i know someone like that too. he bought a 5 room hdb and soon after he lost his job.

so he partioned up the flat so that it now has 5 bedrooms. 3 normal + 2 small. his family sleeps in the master bedroon and he rents out the other 4.

now he stays home all day happily playing with his 2 kids and mmorpg while his wife does some part job.

 

[mercbenz]

It'll be nice to rent out my spare rooms to some pretty PRC mei mei.

 

[LonewolfAlfa]

Rental housing market also not that good nowadays.
It is hard to find suitable tenants

he'll only rent to malaysians.

 

[singveld]

i know someone like that too. he bought a 5 room hdb and soon after he lost his job.

so he partioned up the flat so that it now has 5 bedrooms. 3 normal + 2 small. his family sleeps in the master bedroon and he rents out the other 4.

now he stays home all day happily playing with his 2 kids and mmorpg while his wife does some part job.

are you a sinkies??
5 room hdb does not have 5 bedrooms, only have 3 bedrooms , therefore he could not have rent out 4 bedrooms.

2 small, you mean you can make 2 small bedrooms out of a single living room?
Is this even possible?

 

[qwerty]

are you a sinkies??
5 room hdb does not have 5 bedrooms, only have 3 bedrooms , therefore he could not have rent out 4 bedrooms.

2 small, you mean you can make 2 small bedrooms out of a single living room?
Is this even possible?

a lot of people is doing that. Creating extra partitions in the living room.

You should see some orchard condos, they are also doing that to maximise the rental income.

 

[yellow_people]

If the owner sells the flat in ...e who took out their mortgage from the banks?

 

[besotted]

there are 1,000,000 HDB flats.

so 6,500 cannot pay is less than 1%

the situation is well under control

 

[LonewolfAlfa]

are you a sinkies??
5 room hdb does not have 5 bedrooms, only have 3 bedrooms , therefore he could not have rent out 4 bedrooms.

2 small, you mean you can make 2 small bedrooms out of a single living room?
Is this even possible?

yes, i'm a sinkie (but i'm one of the rare not kiasu kiasi type of sinkie).

I did mentioned that he PARTIONED UP the flat so that it now has 5 bedrooms. 3 normal + 2 small.

The 2 small ones came out of partioning up his living room. so he does not have a living room now, just a narrow passage way. he now lives in his master bedroom.

I know its possible using those stone/concrete blocks to built a new wall. my condo has a dry and wet kitchen. i did not like the layout so I re-partitioned it. building the new wall with those stone/concrete blocks is actually very cheap, was a few hundred bucks only. it was the hacking and removing the debris which costs a bomb.

 

[i_am_belle]

yes, i'm a sinkie (but i'm one of the rare not kiasu kiasi type of sinkie).

I did mentioned that he PARTIONED UP the flat so that it now has 5 bedrooms. 3 normal + 2 small.

The 2 small ones came out of partioning up his living room. so he does not have a living room now, just a narrow passage way. he now lives in his master bedroom.

so, back to shophouse coolie era ! whole family cramped in one room ... maybe got slight improvement, got his own attached toilet of the master bedroom ... :p

he must rem to 'thank' PAP in next GE ...

 

[pia]

so, back to shophouse coolie era ! whole family cramped in one room ... maybe got slight improvement, got his own attached toilet of the master bedroom ... :p

he must rem to 'thank' PAP in next GE ...

Soon we'll have "caged" beds like Hong Kong of old (don't know whether still have today).

 

[LonewolfAlfa]

so, back to shophouse coolie era ! whole family cramped in one room ... maybe got slight improvement, got his own attached toilet of the master bedroom ... :p

he must rem to 'thank' PAP in next GE ...

funny thing is, he's one of the 66.6! he' s so satisfied. he doesn't need to pay taxes directly and he really is so thankful and happy getting those rebates and credits. in his own words, " govt give me money to buy iphone".

 

[Conan the Barbarian]

funny thing is, he's one of the 66.6! he' s so satisfied. he doesn't need to pay taxes directly and he really is so thankful and happy getting those rebates and credits. in his own words, " govt give me money to buy iphone".

I think its known as "Stockholm Syndrome"

Stockholm syndrome is a psychological response sometimes seen in abducted hostages, in which the hostage shows signs of loyalty to the hostage-taker, regardless of the danger or risk in which they have been placed.

The Stockholm Syndrome comes into play when a captive cannot escape and is isolated and threatened with death, but is shown token acts of kindness by the captor. It typically takes about three or four days for the psychological shift to take hold.

 

[LonewolfAlfa]

I think its known as "Stockholm Syndrome"

Stockholm syndrome is a psychological response sometimes seen in abducted hostages, in which the hostage shows signs of loyalty to the hostage-taker, regardless of the danger or risk in which they have been placed.

The Stockholm Syndrome comes into play when a captive cannot escape and is isolated and threatened with death, but is shown token acts of kindness by the captor. It typically takes about three or four days for the psychological shift to take hold.

haha! bingo!

 

[bryanlim1972]

HDB is doing exactly the right thing. the rate of default is very low overall.

keep up the good work hdb.

of all the national housing bodies in the world, HDB should easily be top 10.

 

[@rmadill0]

HDB is doing exactly the right thing. the rate of default is very low overall.

keep up the good work hdb.

of all the national housing bodies in the world, HDB should easily be top 10.

That's not surprising since the Minister overseeing HDB is easily the top 10 most well paid politician in the world!!

 

[Cestbon]

there are 1,000,000 HDB flats.

so 6,500 cannot pay is less than 1%

the situation is well under control

There is less than 700,000 HDB flat. Where do you get the figure 1 million?

 

[bryanlim1972]

That's not surprising since the Minister overseeing HDB is easily the top 10 most well paid politician in the world!!

then what you said is affirmation of the policy of paying high salaries to top ministers. the proof is in the pudding.