Tan Chuan Jin: Only in Singapore can one buy a flat with a monthly salary of $1,000

Tan Chuan Jin: Only in Singapore can one buy a flat with a monthly salary of $1,000

Posted by temasektimes on March 3, 2012

Only in Singapore is it possible that one can afford to purchase a HDB flat with a monthly salary of $1,000, according to Minister of State for National Development BG Tan Chuan Jin in a note posted on his Facebook.

“Tears were shed by some, who lamented about the ability to buy flats for their parents in the future. Others raised their eyebrows when DPM Tharman made the point about the $1,000 income family being able to afford to buy a small flat. Online critics went to town to mock the im-possibility of this,” BG Tan wrote in the beginning of the note, taking a potshot at the detractors.

He went on to explain that a first-time applicant can apply for a new 2-room standard BTO (Build-to-Order) flat in a non-mature estate which are set aside for those earning $2,000 and below a month.

“These households earning $1,000 can qualify for generous housing grants. Available to them are the Additional CPF Housing Grant (AHG) of up to $40,000, and the Special CPF Housing Grant (SHG) of up to $20,000. These grants could be used for the flat down payment. Total = $60,000″

BG Tan calculated that with the HDB grant and loan, the applicant need only pay between $161 and $214 monthly depending on the duration of the loan which is more than adequately covered by the CPF contributions.

“For a young household headed by an income earner with a salary of $1,000 per month. He will have a total of $217 contributed monthly to his CPF Ordinary Account. Monthly cash outlay = $0″

Besides supporting families to own their homes, HDB is also building more rental flats to meet the growing demand.

“Demand for rentals still remain high and we are increasing the building of rental flats. By 2012 we would have about 50,000 and waiting time would come down from 21 to 8 months,” BG Tan revealed.

Read BG Tan’s note here

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