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Proportion of HDB flats in housing stock dips

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Over the past 10 years, even though more Housing Board flats have been built, they now make up a smaller proportion of Singapore's total housing stock.

Last year, the 1,011,000 HDB flats made up 73 per cent of total housing stock. This is down from 78 per cent - or 880,000 units - in 2006, Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong told Parliament yesterday. And it is also down from 85 per cent in 1996, a check by The Straits Times showed.

GROWING PROPORTION

Meanwhile, the number of private condo units and landed homes increased from 243,000 to 372,000 over the same period, with its proportion of the overall dwelling units growing from 22 per cent to 27 per cent.

Responding to a question from Mr Gan Thiam Poh (Ang Mo Kio GRC), Mr Wong said this proportion is expected to remain stable over the next few years, with 72 per cent out of all dwelling units projected to be HDB flats in 2020.

This ratio only refers to the housing stock, not the proportion of people living in HDB flats, which is still around 80 per cent, he added.

Senior Minister of State for National Development, Dr Koh Poh Koon, said some 56,000 out of all HDB flats are public rental flats, which cater to a yearly average of 2,600 households who move in.

In the past 10 years, about 1,600 households returned their rental flats and now have their own homes, said Dr Koh.

Mr Wong also revealed that less than 2 per cent of Build-To-Order (BTO) home buyers who had been invited to collect their keys had asked for a deferment in the whole of last year and the first quarter of this year.

While a majority were able to sell their existing flat, 45 buyers eventually cancelled their new flat bookings and paid the forfeiture, he said.

hdbMINISTRY OF NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (MND)Lawrence Wong