900 families got a third HDB loan in 2015

The HDB is willing to grant a third loan for exceptional cases, like when households find it tough to get a bank loan.

The Housing and Development Board (HDB) granted a third housing loan to around 900 families last year, according to National Development Minister Lawrence Wong during a parliamentary session on Monday (14 March), reported Channel NewsAsia.

Of this, 25 percent are concessionary loans, while about 75 percent consisted of non-concessionary loans, which are based on market rates.

He explained that the agency is willing to help families obtain a third HDB housing loan, but it will only be allowed for exceptional cases, usually for households that cannot acquire mortgages from banks, but are in urgent need of such financing.

However, a requirement is that these families should have ample savings and stable incomes to repay their monthly loan instalments.

As I said, HDB would want to assist applicants to buy a home. But HDB is also wary of people or families, who overstretch themselves, and end up with more debt. I don't think we want that to happen just for the pursuit of buying a home, Mr Wong added.

Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg

More from PropertyGuru:
Buyers falling victim to rogue property agents in Malaysia
JLL remains top in the region, data shows
Hotel RevPAR rose 6.1% in February: report
Solid weekend sales at The Wisteria, Cairnhill Nine