The Government has no restrictions on permanent residents when it comes to buying, selling and sub-letting condominium units. But there are rules for landed property and HDB flats.

To buy landed property – bungalow, semi-detached house, terrace house and town house, whether freehold or leasehold – PRs need to apply for a permit from the Singapore Land Authority (SLA). They will be assessed on their economic contributions – qualifications, expertise and investments here.

PRs cannot sell their landed property within three years of buying it. After three years, they may sell it to a Singaporean or another PR, who has to seek SLA’s permission for the purchase. PR owners of landed properties are also not allowed to rent them out under the Residential Property Act. Offenders are liable to a maximum fine of $5,000 or a jail term capped at three years, or both.

PRs are allowed to buy resale HDB flats – but not new flats – without housing and mortgage subsidies.

Resale HDB flats bought without a CPF housing grant and with a bank loan can be sold one year from the date of purchase. To sub-let the whole flat, the PR must have lived in it for three years.

Owners of HDB flats are allowed to sub-let rooms if they own a three-room or bigger flat. There is no minimum occupation period for renting out rooms. Owners have to adhere to the number of tenants allowed by the HDB.

No prior approval from HDB is required for the sub-letting of rooms. But with effect from tomorrow, flat owners who sub-let rooms have to register with the HDB within seven days of doing so.

This applies to all, not just PRs. Those who illegally sub-let entire flats may have their units taken back by the HDB or may have to pay a fine of $1,000 to $21,000.

Source: Sunday Times, 31 Jan 2010

Singapore’s housing authority said Permanent Residents may soon be subjected to a similar ethnic integration policy already imposed on citizens who buy public flats.

Observers say the move is reflective of Singapore’s changing demographics, where about a third of the population are foreigners.

But there’s already a racial quota for PRs in the purchase of public housing.

A shopping centre in Boon Lay in western Singapore gives an idea of the community it serves. It is filled with facilities for its foreign clientele including remittance units, money changers and provision shops catering to Thai and Myanmar nationals.

Tending one of the shops is a 52-year-old from Myanmar who has been living in Singapore for 15 years.

Like many PRs, Madam Yin Yin Winn, who peppers her sentences with the colloquial term “la” considers Singapore home.

In fact, she made several Singaporean friends while volunteering at her daughters’ school.

Madam Winn says her daughters, aged 19 and 16, go to neighbourhood schools.

“When I go to my daughter’s school, I talk with them, sometimes I bring our traditional food, they enjoy my food,” she said.

Like most Singaporeans, Madam Winn lives in a subsidised public flat, which is also subjected to an Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP).

Prior to the 1960s, various immigrant ethnic groups were concentrated in different parts of Singapore creating enclaves. So the Government introduced the Ethnic Integration Policy. This is where public housing is used as a tool to integrate Singapore’s multi-ethnic population.

The EIP is applicable to the purchase of new flats, resale flats, SERS (Selective En-bloc Redevelopment Scheme) replacement flats and DBSS (Design, Build & Sell Scheme) flats, as well as the allocation of rental flats in all HDB estates.

Under the policy, maximum proportions are set for all ethnic groups – Chinese, Malays, Indians and others, in each HDB block and neighbourhood.

There is no restriction on the sale and purchase of an HDB flat if the proportion of the buyer’s ethnic group is within the prescribed block and neighbourhood limits.

Once the block/neighbourhood limit for a particular ethnic group has been reached, no further sale of HDB flats to that ethnic group will be allowed, if it will lead to an increase of the proportion beyond the limit.

There is no restriction if the buyer and seller are of the same ethnic group.

Currently, PRs are already subjected to the policy according to their race.

For example a China national may fall under the ‘Chinese’ category and an Indian national under ‘Indian’.

What could change is expanding it to account for the immigrant’s nationality.

Mr Eugene Tan, Assistant Professor at the School of Law at the Singapore Management University, said: “The fear is that Permanent Residents are forming enclaves of Permanent Residents. What it would mean is that Permanent Residents could be subjected to two types of quotas. One is the original ethnic integration quota, and the other one could be a citizen/Permanent Resident quota.”

Mr Azhar Ghani, a Research Fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies, questions how an ethnic integration policy will affect Malaysian PRs.

“Malaysian PRs, whom I would say are quite acculturalised to our ways, who will face a new restriction to where they can buy HDB flats. This proposed change will just add another additional layer to the EIP categorisation, and current technology would mean that it would not be too big a challenge administratively to ensure adherence,” he said.

“So will PRs who have been here for many years but have not taken up citizenship for whatever reasons, be subjected to the new PR-related rule, in addition to the race quota, when they buy a HDB flat? Should there be a time-bar? For example, will the rule apply only to PRs who have been here for less than, say, five years?,” he asked.

The first indication that the Government is looking into the integration of foreigners within Singapore’s housing estates was revealed by National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan in Parliament in November 2009.

He said the Government “will keep a close watch on the distribution of PRs living in HDB estates and where necessary, consider measures to prevent the congregation of PRs and foreigner.”

Currently, PRs form only 5 percent of HDB households.

And housing analysts say that’s unlikely to create any surge in home prices.

Mr Eugene Lim, Associate Director of ERA Asia Pacific, said: “No issue, it’s just like the current ethnic integration policy, doesn’t affect re-sale prices because the number of PRs who would be buying flats are still there. It’s just “Oh, if I cannot buy this block, I buy another block.””

“I think some people are under the impression that PRs are driving up the prices. It is not, it’s the whole market, that there’s a lot of people buying flats that’s together driving up the price.” Mr Lim said.

“Actually if you look by and large, the PRs, if they do congregate – actually they are all over the place – they are very practical group of people. They buy where they can afford. They buy where they need to stay near to, for example, a place of work or school.

“But because to them, if they feel a fellow countryman is staying nearby, they do build a community. So there’s this issue of – what if there are too many of them staying at a certain place? So it’s really looking forward, if we have more and more PRs coming, how do we then have a ratio to ensure they are spread out in Singapore?” Mr Lim asked.

Still, observers say even with an ethnic integration policy in place, the true test is in the community bonds forged between citizens and immigrants.

Source: Channel News Asia, 29 Jan 2010

LAST December, MP Lim Wee Kiak saw a notice pasted illegally on a wall in his Canberra ward of Sembawang GRC. It was written entirely in the Myanmar language.

Curious, he got it translated. The notice was from a real estate agent offering his services solely to Myanmar permanent residents (PRs) looking for flats here.

Dr Lim was disturbed as he saw this as a tell-tale sign that ethnic congregation of foreigners was beginning in HDB estates.

Such concerns are evidently shared by the Government.

The HDB disclosed on Wednesday that it was considering introducing a separate ethnic quota for PRs to prevent enclaves from forming in estates.

Earlier, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said at a dialogue that the Government did not want to see new citizens congregate and would disperse them across HDB estates.

Recognition of this as an issue was welcomed by seven MPs who were contacted yesterday about the situation in their wards, and for their views on how such a quota could be implemented.

The HDB has not provided details of what the changes might entail.

But several MPs did point out yesterday that it was through renting of flats in the same areas – and not necessarily buying flats – that PRs have also been able to congregate.

Latest available data showed that as of June last year, only 4.9 per cent of HDB flats were owned by PRs.

Hence, a quota imposed on home-buying by PRs might make little difference.

The Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP), introduced in 1989, aims to maintain a healthy racial mix in housing estates by stipulating maximum proportions for the key ethnic groups.

But MP Charles Chong, whose Punggol Central ward, like all new estates, has seen an influx of foreigners, said the EIP now is too porous for a new generation of PRs.

‘The Indian community is pretty diverse. Sri Lankan is classified as Indian; Bangladeshi, Pakistani, northern Hindi-speaking Indians are all classified as Indians (for purposes of the EIP).’

If there are no sub-divisions, there could arise an enclave, say of Bangladeshis, all staying in the same block or precinct, he pointed out.

The same goes for mainland Chinese, Taiwanese or Chinese-Indonesians, who are all classified under ‘Chinese’.

Dr Lim argued, however, that the important distinction to make is not within ethnic classifications, but between Singaporeans and PRs. He said there are some floors of HDB blocks in his ward where more than half the residents are foreign.

They are a mix of nationalities. So although there is no ‘ethnic’ enclave as such, there is a high concentration of foreigners ‘to the point where Singaporeans feel threatened and become a minority’.

When that happens, then it becomes an issue, he said.

Dr Lim suggested a quota limiting the proportion of PRs in each precinct or block to the proportion of PR homeowners nationwide – or about 5 per cent.

MP Ho Geok Choo – who recalled a visitor describing her Boon Lay ward as being so cosmopolitan that it felt like being overseas – said a quota would help dampen excessive property prices. This would make it more difficult for PRs to artificially inflate prices in certain areas by all snapping up flats there, she said.

It would also assuage the concern of those Singaporeans who feel besieged in their neighbourhood by new sights and smells. On her house visits, every block throws up at least two or three Singaporeans who voice their concerns about this, she said.

But ultimately, a quota on home-buying may not make much of a difference.

Jurong GRC MP Halimah Yacob said more than 70 per cent of foreigners in her Bukit Batok East ward are renting. They rent in the area as it is close to their workplaces in the West.

While it is possible to envision an ethnic enclave of renters, ‘there’s nothing you can do (about where PRs rent)’, she said. The rental market is left entirely to free market forces.

Regardless, director of Dennis Wee Properties, Mr Chris Koh, foresees a big plus if a new quota is implemented: It would puncture the belief that some Singaporeans have that their flats can fetch a higher price if they sell them to PRs.

Sellers who hear that a certain nationality is prominent in the neighbourhood pressure agents to find such buyers, thinking it will mean more profits, he said.

‘If quotas are set… we can tell them, ‘We hit the quota max already and we have to be realistic about the price.”

Source, Straits Times 29 January 2010

LAW Minister K. Shanmugam’s remarks in yesterday’s report about the impact of foreigners on public housing (‘Wrong to accuse them of driving up costs: Shanmugam’) did not address the consequences on single Singaporeans or offer more effective ways to help all citizens.

In dismissing the perceived impact of foreigners, Mr Shanmugam noted that foreigners cannot buy HDB flats and that there are too few permanent residents (PRs) to affect prices.

He also noted that the Government gives Singaporeans a leg up with concessionary loans and housing grants, and is ready to launch up to 12,000 build-to-order (BTO) units to meet demand.

But concessionary loans and housing grants are not enough to offset rising flat prices, and single Singaporeans cannot buy BTO units.

If the Government will not regulate rising HDB flat resale prices, the HDB should build more two- and three-room flats and let single citizens buy them.

PRs should also be banned from renting out their flats or putting them up for resale at a profit. The price at which PRs resell their flats should not be higher than what they paid for them.

Such a rule will prevent PRs who do not intend to take up citizenship from reaping a windfall when they return home after a few years

 
Source, Straits Times 19 January 2010

PERMANENT residents occupy less than 5 per cent of all Housing Board flats, and are living in estates across the island.

Nevertheless, the Government will keep an eye on the situation to ensure that no PR and foreigner enclaves develop

National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said this when responding to Dr Lim Wee Kiak (Sembawang GRC).

Dr Lim wanted to know the distribution of PRs across Housing Board estates, as well as whether the Government would consider expanding the current ethnic quota scheme to include PRs.

Mr Mah said PRs were already subjected to the same rules as Singaporeans, and that includes the Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP).

‘The EIP was introduced to achieve a healthy racial mix in HDB estates and prevent the formation of ethnic enclaves, regardless of whether they are citizens or PRs,’ he said. As of June 30 this year, PRs owned 42,800 flats – or just 4.9 per cent of the nearly 900,000 HDB flats islandwide.

While public housing policies are for the benefit of Singaporeans, Mr Mah stressed that PRs also needed a place to live: ‘PR families are not eligible for housing subsidies that Singaporeans enjoy. They are not allowed to buy a new flat from HDB or enjoy any housing grant. However, PRs need to have a home in Singapore. Therefore, they are allowed to buy properties from the open market, including HDB resale flats.’

He was not the only minister to address the issue. Community Development, Youth and Sports Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said separately that his ministry and the National Development Ministry would discuss the matter.

It was government policy to ensure there were no ethnic ghettoes here, Dr Balakrishnan added when replying to Mr Christopher de Souza (Holland-Bukit Timah GRC).

PRs were also the focus for Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng. He was asked by opposition MP Chiam See Tong (Potong Pasir) about the number of new PRs here since 2000.

Mr Wong said an average of 74,500 PR applications were made each year from 2000 to last year. Of these, about 46,300 became PRs. At the same time, about 2,200 PRs renounce their status each year.

Mr Wong said the number applying for PR status grew steadily in recent years due to the growing economy and the need to make up for Singapore’s flagging birth rate.

Still, most foreigners were either workers or students here on a temporary basis – and would leave once their services were not needed, or when their studies ended.

As of June this year, there were 1.253 million non-residents, but only 533,000 PRs. But the Government was mindful of the concerns of locals, he said, adding: ‘We’ll manage the inflow of immigrants, taking into account how quickly our society can absorb and integrate these new immigrants without diluting our national identity or weakening our social cohesion. Such a sustained and calibrated inflow of immigrants would ensure that Singaporean benefit from immigration in the long term.

Source, Straits Times, 24 November 2009