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</TD></TR><TR><TD class=content_subtitle align=left>Fri, Sep 04, 2009
The New Paper </TD></TR><TR><TD height=15>
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</TD></TR><!-- Story With Image End --><TR><TD class=bodytext_10pt colSpan=3><!-- CONTENT : start -->By Desmond Ng
HOW'S this for a money-making scheme?
Rent an HDB flat, and instead of living there, sublet it for nearly 40 times as much as you pay for it.
<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=2 cellPadding=2 width=300 align=right><TBODY><TR><TD><SCRIPT language=JavaScript src="/static/ads/scripts/adsimu.js"></SCRIPT></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>That's what one enterprising couple did.
They rented a one-room flat from HDB at Bendemeer Road for just $26 a month.
These flats are intended for the poor and needy.
But instead of living there, they moved in with the wife's parents.
They then sublet the rental flat to two Nepalese students for $1,000 a month.
HDB said it managed to recover the flat in February this year.
The couple have since been barred from renting an HDB flat for five years.
They are among a growing number of rental flat cheats who have been abusing and profiting from the HDB Public Rental Scheme, which is aimed at helping the poor.
The number of rental flats taken back surged from 28 in 2007 to a high of 221 last year, said HDB.
Fewer than 20 flats were seized in 2005 and 2006 each.
Annual inspections
In the first half of this year, some 91 flats were recovered. All of them had been sublet by the tenants, said HDB.
It carries out annual inspections on rental flats to weed out abuse or misuse of these flats.
The punishment for these rental cheats?
They will lose the rental flat and will be barred from renting from HDB for five years.
But are these measures enough to deter such abusers?
After all, if these rental cheats are able to sublet the flat, it means they do have alternative housing options.
And one flat taken by an undeserving profiteer means one needy family is deprived of a home.
There are 4,000 applicants on the waiting list for rental flats and many of them have to wait up to 11/2 years to get one.
The number of one-room and two-room HDB flats will go up from 43,000 to about 50,000 by 2012.
Ngee Ann Polytechnic real estate lecturer Nicholas Mak feels that a ban alone is insufficient to deter such cheats.
He said there must be a financial penalty because these rental cheats are making money out of these subsidised flats.
Said Mr Mak: 'They are depriving someone else who needs the flat. These are subsidised flats which are indirectly funded by taxpayers. They are indirectly taking money from the taxpayers.
'HDB should make them pay back the profit they have earned, plus more. If they make $10,000, they should be fined at least twice that amount. This will deter people from doing this.'
HSR Property Group executive director Eric Cheng agreed that more needs to be done to penalise these cheats but added that fines should only be imposed on a case-by-case basis.
Need cash
He said: 'It's usually the older folks who rent these flats from HDB. And some of them may become jobless and in their need for cash, they rent out their flats.
'It may be illegal but these folks have little choice.'
Only those with an average monthly household income not exceeding $1,500 are eligible for a rental flat.
He cited the example of a 60-year-old who was paying $55 for a two-room rental flat but rented it out for about $600 because he was having trouble making ends meet.
Said Mr Cheng: 'This man works part-time and stays at the coffee shops or workshops that he works at. He's really down on his luck. In this case, it would be harsh to fine him.'
HDB said that it is in the process of reviewing the penalties for illegal subletting.
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The New Paper </TD></TR><TR><TD height=15>
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HOW'S this for a money-making scheme?
Rent an HDB flat, and instead of living there, sublet it for nearly 40 times as much as you pay for it.
<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=2 cellPadding=2 width=300 align=right><TBODY><TR><TD><SCRIPT language=JavaScript src="/static/ads/scripts/adsimu.js"></SCRIPT></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>That's what one enterprising couple did.
They rented a one-room flat from HDB at Bendemeer Road for just $26 a month.
These flats are intended for the poor and needy.
But instead of living there, they moved in with the wife's parents.
They then sublet the rental flat to two Nepalese students for $1,000 a month.
HDB said it managed to recover the flat in February this year.
The couple have since been barred from renting an HDB flat for five years.
They are among a growing number of rental flat cheats who have been abusing and profiting from the HDB Public Rental Scheme, which is aimed at helping the poor.
The number of rental flats taken back surged from 28 in 2007 to a high of 221 last year, said HDB.
Fewer than 20 flats were seized in 2005 and 2006 each.
Annual inspections
In the first half of this year, some 91 flats were recovered. All of them had been sublet by the tenants, said HDB.
It carries out annual inspections on rental flats to weed out abuse or misuse of these flats.
The punishment for these rental cheats?
They will lose the rental flat and will be barred from renting from HDB for five years.
But are these measures enough to deter such abusers?
After all, if these rental cheats are able to sublet the flat, it means they do have alternative housing options.
And one flat taken by an undeserving profiteer means one needy family is deprived of a home.
There are 4,000 applicants on the waiting list for rental flats and many of them have to wait up to 11/2 years to get one.
The number of one-room and two-room HDB flats will go up from 43,000 to about 50,000 by 2012.
Ngee Ann Polytechnic real estate lecturer Nicholas Mak feels that a ban alone is insufficient to deter such cheats.
He said there must be a financial penalty because these rental cheats are making money out of these subsidised flats.
Said Mr Mak: 'They are depriving someone else who needs the flat. These are subsidised flats which are indirectly funded by taxpayers. They are indirectly taking money from the taxpayers.
'HDB should make them pay back the profit they have earned, plus more. If they make $10,000, they should be fined at least twice that amount. This will deter people from doing this.'
HSR Property Group executive director Eric Cheng agreed that more needs to be done to penalise these cheats but added that fines should only be imposed on a case-by-case basis.
Need cash
He said: 'It's usually the older folks who rent these flats from HDB. And some of them may become jobless and in their need for cash, they rent out their flats.
'It may be illegal but these folks have little choice.'
Only those with an average monthly household income not exceeding $1,500 are eligible for a rental flat.
He cited the example of a 60-year-old who was paying $55 for a two-room rental flat but rented it out for about $600 because he was having trouble making ends meet.
Said Mr Cheng: 'This man works part-time and stays at the coffee shops or workshops that he works at. He's really down on his luck. In this case, it would be harsh to fine him.'
HDB said that it is in the process of reviewing the penalties for illegal subletting.
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