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Coffeeshop Chit Chat - Income ceiling to be raised!!!</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"></TD><TD><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead vAlign=top><TD class=msgF width="1%" noWrap align=right>From: </TD><TD class=msgFname width="68%" noWrap>99chicken <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgDate width="30%" noWrap align=right>6:20 am </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT height=20 width="1%" noWrap align=right>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname width="68%" noWrap>ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right>(1 of 4) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft rowSpan=4 width="1%"></TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>49535.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD id=msgtxt_1 class=msgtxt>Income ceiling for BTO flats may be raised
<!-- by line -->By Elgin Toh
The Government is studying the possibility of raising the current $8,000 income ceiling for purchasing new flats under the Build-to-Order (BTO) scheme, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Monday. -- ST PHOTO: LIM SIN THAI
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THE Government is studying the possibility of raising the current $8,000 income ceiling for purchasing new flats under the Build-to-Order (BTO) scheme, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Monday.
He disclosed at a media briefing that when the $8,000 cap was raised to $10,000 for the slightly more upmarket Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) flats last year, the Government also considered lifting the income ceiling for BTO flats and resale flat subsidies.
'But we haven't done it yet because the property market was very hot and we didn't want to add more pressure on the BTO flats,' he said.
He added that with wages expected to rise in a tight labour market this year, the Government will 'revisit' the income ceiling issue 'after the effects of the current round of (housing) measures become clear'.
Speaking as secretary-general of the People's Action Party (PAP) at a press conference marking the halfway-point of the election campaign, Mr Lee said he acknowledged that middle-class Singaporeans, also known as the sandwich class, were 'one group which perhaps we have not spent so much time talking about' and may feel 'left out from the discussion' because the focus of many Government programmes has been on lower-income Singaporeans.
'I can understand their anxieties. They have some. They're financially better off. They have more resources than the lower income Singaporeans, but they have high aspirations for themselves, also for their children, and also, in some cases, they have significant commitments.'
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<!-- by line -->By Elgin Toh
The Government is studying the possibility of raising the current $8,000 income ceiling for purchasing new flats under the Build-to-Order (BTO) scheme, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Monday. -- ST PHOTO: LIM SIN THAI
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THE Government is studying the possibility of raising the current $8,000 income ceiling for purchasing new flats under the Build-to-Order (BTO) scheme, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Monday.
He disclosed at a media briefing that when the $8,000 cap was raised to $10,000 for the slightly more upmarket Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) flats last year, the Government also considered lifting the income ceiling for BTO flats and resale flat subsidies.
'But we haven't done it yet because the property market was very hot and we didn't want to add more pressure on the BTO flats,' he said.
He added that with wages expected to rise in a tight labour market this year, the Government will 'revisit' the income ceiling issue 'after the effects of the current round of (housing) measures become clear'.
Speaking as secretary-general of the People's Action Party (PAP) at a press conference marking the halfway-point of the election campaign, Mr Lee said he acknowledged that middle-class Singaporeans, also known as the sandwich class, were 'one group which perhaps we have not spent so much time talking about' and may feel 'left out from the discussion' because the focus of many Government programmes has been on lower-income Singaporeans.
'I can understand their anxieties. They have some. They're financially better off. They have more resources than the lower income Singaporeans, but they have high aspirations for themselves, also for their children, and also, in some cases, they have significant commitments.'
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