Government seeing red or problem with our CPF Board

PAP to consider ways to discourage home owners from cashing out from their flats prematurely

With the prices of HDB flats at an all-time high, an increasing number of Singaporeans are selling their flats to make a quick buck.

Some of them return to HDB to seek help with housing after selling their flats to pay off debts or buy luxury items.

The PAP is now studying ways to discourage them from doing so, revealed National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan to the Straits Times.

“There are many different options that we have to look at, one of which is to see how we can transfer some of the subsidy that is given when the flat is purchased, whether we transfer it into his CPF for retirement or medical expenses or to buy another flat…to make sure they don’t take it out as cash and spend it away,” he was quoted as saying in the Straits Times.

Though no concrete ideas have been floated yet, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong suggested a few weeks ago to lock the profits from the sale of HDB flats into the CPF accounts of sellers.

The plan, if introduced is likely to be unpopular among Singaporeans as they are unable to cash out on their HDB flats.

The prices of HDB flats have sky-rocketed in recent years due to rising demand fueled by immigration in the face of limited supply of new flats.

With the prices on an upward trend, it is not likely that flat sellers are able to make much profits from the sale of their flats unless they downgrade to a smaller flat or leave Singapore and live elsewhere altogether.

Mr Mah, who admitted that he was “caught off-guard” by the astronomical prices of HDB flats has been put on the defensive lately by accusations from Singaporeans that he has not done enough to control the prices.

The combative Mah retaliated by blaming Singaporeans for being “fussy” and showing obscure charts and figures to substantiate his claims that HDB flats remain “affordable” in Singapore.

The increasingly unpopular Mah may prove to be a liability to the PAP in the next general election due by 2011.

PAP strongman Lee Kuan Yew dismissed the threat to Mr Mah’s position by calling Singaporeans “daft” if they dare to vote Mr Mah out of office.