Written answer by Ministry of National Development on profile of rental tenants and rationale for not applying the Non-Citizen Quota for HDB neighbourhoods and blocks to the renting out of bedrooms

Feb 5, 2024

Question No: 5655

Question by: Mr Pritam Singh

To ask the Minister for National Development of the approximately 110,000 HDB flats which remain occupied by their owners but have bedrooms rented out (a) what is the total number of tenants in these HDB flats and how many tenants comprise Singaporeans and non-Singaporeans respectively; and (b) what is the rationale for not applying the Non-Citizen Quota for HDB neighbourhoods and blocks to the renting out of bedrooms.

Answer:

          As at Dec 2023, there were about 223,000 registered tenants in the 110,000 HDB flats that remain occupied by their owners but have bedrooms rented out. Of these registered tenants, 3% are Singaporeans, 56% are Malaysians, and the remaining 41% are of other nationalities.

2.             The objective of the Non-Citizen (NC) Quota is to prevent the formation of foreigner enclaves in HDB estates and maintain the Singaporean character of our HDB heartlands. Applications to rent out the whole flat to one or more non-Malaysian non-citizen tenants are subject to the block quota of 11% and the neighbourhood quota of 8%.

3.             The NC Quota does not apply to renting out of bedrooms in flats. Unlike whole flat rentals, owners renting out bedrooms continue to stay in their flats together with their tenants, which has some effect in reducing any sense of foreigner concentration in our HDB estates.  Most of these owners are retirees and lower-income households who rely on rental collections to supplement their household income.

4.             We will continue to monitor the profile of tenants renting HDB flats and bedrooms on the open market to ensure that we maintain the Singaporean character of our HDB heartlands.