New subletting restrictions on PRs in HDBs

[skipper]

Well, I saw a post in another forum where one smart guy demanded that HDB houses must not be sold for PRs .. it must be only for Citizens - and PRs must rent or buy condos ..

Nobody bothered to tell him that PRs are only eligible for resale - i.e. higher priced flats .. unlike Citizens who are eligible for grants ..

And if you make PRs not to buy HDB, and only rent from SC or buy condo, well, the property will become super-high .. until nobody wants to come here ..

I remember the time an agency was headhunting a guy, from US, and he was offered a standard 1,200 $ for housing allowance.

He just laughed it off and said unless he comes on 'housing fully paid' he is not keen, and bluntly told the people that he is not keen to pay 1/4th of his salary for rental .. when his apartment near some International School was costing 8,000 per month.

After some flurry of activities, the employer agreed, and only then did he come ..

Now, I wonder, if the rental prices go to sky high, so the locals who own apartments can make a killing, and then kill the Golden egg laying goose ??

As it is, I know a few people who left Singapore, because of high rental, when HDB rental is going up and up, till a 2 bedroom HDB is averaging at 2,500 - a big jump from 1,600 .. even in far off places .. and those who left have happily settled down in Malaysia ..

Agree, the rental market shouldn't go too high so as to make it absurd for foreigners to come to singapore, as that would kill the goose that lays the golden egg. I do hope is stabilizes and remains at reasonable levels (I am saying this being a singaporean myself with my own house).

I think locals are angry at seeing the PR's make a killing off their HDB's (which a lot bought much cheaper), when they cease to work and go back to their country. So some are calling for capital gains tax.

That being said, I reiterate my statement that 10% co-pay or free healthcare will get the government all the votes they need for comfortable re-election. Singapore is in too high a state of advancement to still have the very expensive healthcare for it's own citizens. The free healthcare benifits might force a lot of PR's to convert as well. I know a lot of PR's who are here in the short term, have their eyes on australia and canada because of the great healthcare of those countries.

Will improved healthcare benefits (on top of higher benefits for the local citizens) really convince PRs to convert their citizenship? It will still depend on which country they're from as well as their current state of affairs.

[ecureilx]

Will improved healthcare benefits (on top of higher benefits for the local citizens) really convince PRs to convert their citizenship? It will still depend on which country they're from as well as their current state of affairs.

No, but it will let citizens not vent their anger on a small percentage of PRs who shop their HDB houses for profit.

The key word is 'a small percentage' .. unlike how the pro-opposition media online is portraying PRs as being in for a profit, the facts are otherwise ..

On the other hand, let me ask, is the govt so easy in converting PRs to citizens ?? well .. then how ??

[zzm9980]

Will improved healthcare benefits (on top of higher benefits for the local citizens) really convince PRs to convert their citizenship? It will still depend on which country they're from as well as their current state of affairs.

No, but it will let citizens not vent their anger on a small percentage of PRs who shop their HDB houses for profit.

The key word is 'a small percentage' .. unlike how the pro-opposition media online is portraying PRs as being in for a profit, the facts are otherwise ..

On the other hand, let me ask, is the govt so easy in converting PRs to citizens ?? well .. then how ??

I'd imagine a landslide of citizenship applications from "low quality" PRs if healthcare was tossed in as a benefit. And if the government didn't significantly tighten up the PR->SC criteria, I'd anticipate a huge angry backlack from native born citizens, strong enough to completely forget that they just got free healthcare. Hell, that backlash will probably still occur anyway over the PR->SC conversions that have occurred.

[ecureilx]

... Hell, that backlash will probably still occur anyway over the PR->SC conversions that have occurred.

Now here, is what is amusing ..

Most of the vocal SCs, it seems, are those 'new SCs' .. something to ponder over .. atleast among the people I come across ..

[AndrewV]

I think the crux of the problem that Local's feel is that there are just too many "foreign faces", regardless of whether they are EP/PR/SC. this is a valid concern, whatever the fact are, when there is a sudden surge of foreign faces into a country there is a period of discomfort. The government is doing a lot to tighten up the immigration policies, but a lot of the "low quality" immigrants are already through the gates (like those construction workers/waiters/bar girls who got PR in the earlier years)