32,000 households are in mortgage of 3 months or more

Keshia Faculin20 Feb 2018

HDB image resize

A drop in household income and prolonged unemployment or illness are among the common reasons why Singapore households fall into mortgage arrears, revealed the Ministry of National Development.

Notably, out of the 405,000 households with outstanding Housing and Development Board (HDB) loans for the past three years, 7.9 percent or around 32,000 households were in mortgage arrears of three months or more.

“Of these 32,000 households, almost half are in the 41-55 age group (based on the age of the oldest owner). Another 38 percent are above 55, and the rest are in the 21-40 age bracket,” it said in a written answer to Parliament.

At end-2017, 57 percent of these households or around 18,200 were no longer in mortgage arrears of three months or more.

To help with their mortgage arrears, HDB provides financial counselling to households and refers them to agencies that offer employment, social and financial aid.

For those with temporary financial problems, HDB helps them by “reducing or deferring their mortgage installment payments to ease their cash flow”.

HDB also helps those with prolonged financial difficulty explore long-term solutions, such as including working adult children as joint owners to help pay with the mortgage installments or right-size to a flat that is within their means.

 

This article was edited by Keshia Faculin.

POST COMMENT

You may also like these articles

880,000 HDB households to receive utilities rebates

About 880,000 Singaporean households living in HDB flats will receive GST Voucher – Utilities-Save (U-Save) rebates this month to offset part of their utilities bills, revealed the Ministry of Finan

Continue Reading3 Jan 2018

Over 200 divorcees allowed to buy HDB flat sans ex-spouses’ consent

Singapore’s Housing and Development Board (HDB) has allowed divorcees to purchase a subsidised flat without their ex-spouses’ consent in more than 200 instances over the past three years, accordin

Continue Reading10 Jan 2018

118 HDB flats involved in mortgagee sales

There had been 118 cases of completed mortgagee sales involving HDB flats from January 2013 to November 2017, according to a parliamentary reply from the Ministry of National Development on Wednesday

Continue Reading11 Jan 2018