However, successful applicants will have to face longer waiting times of about six months, compared to an average of three months during the last five years as sprucing works have slowed down due to manpower crunch.
The Housing and Development Board (HDB) has about 4,800 vacant rental flats available for allocation to new tenants, revealed the Ministry of National Development (MND) in Parliament on Tuesday (6 July).
Of these, more than 50% “need to be spruced up before they can be let out”.
However, the pace of sprucing works has been slower due to the severe manpower crunch facing the construction industry.
“This had led to longer waiting times for rental flats,” said MND in its written response to Member of Parliament Chua Kheng Wee Louis’ question on the number of vacant HDB rental flats.
The ministry shared that “the number of approved HDB rental flat applicants on the waiting list has increased from an average of 660 in the past five years to 1,500 now”.
Meanwhile, successful applicants will have to face longer waiting times of about six months, compared to an average of three months during the last five years.
This comes as some application zones and flat types have higher demand and a more limited supply.
Suggested read: Guide to Upgrading from an HDB Rental Flat to Owning an HDB Flat
“Even though the number of vacant flats exceeds the number of applicants on the waiting list at the overall level, applicants need to be matched to the flat type and location that they applied for,” explained MND.
It added that HDB is looking at measures to ramp up sprucing works and facilitate key collections as quickly as possible.
“For applicants with urgent housing needs, such as medical grounds or other extenuating circumstances, HDB will prioritise allocating a flat to them,” said the ministry.
In fact, about a third of last year’s successful rental applicants were given priority allocation.
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Victor Kang, Digital Content Specialist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this story, email: victorkang@propertyguru.com.sg
