In a press release on 29 April, the Ministry of Finance announced $86 million worth of Service & Conservancy Charges (S&CC) rebates for around 840,000 Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats for this year.
The rebates each household receives depends on the flat type. Smaller flats with one or two-rooms are eligible for three months of S&CC rebates throughout 2016. Three and four-room flats will receive two months of rebates, and five-room flats will receive one and a half months. Lastly, executive or multi-generation flats will get one month of rebates.
The rebates for all flat types will be disbursed in May, July and October. Households eligible for the rebates will be notified by post in April.
The Government aims for this move to help households cope with their cost of living, as the rebates will be used to offset a household’s S&CC payment directly. For households that pay their S&CC through Giro, their respective town councils will liaise with the banks to take the rebates into account.
The S&CC rebates were first outlined during the Budget debates last month. Overall, they will cost the government $86 million.