Current Affairs
Government issues POFMA correction against Leong Sze Hian’s FB post on HDB resale flat grants
The Minister for National Development, Desmond Lee, directed the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) Office to issue a Correction Direction to Mr Leong Sze Hian over a Facebook post he made on 21 August 2024.
The Ministry of National Development (MND), in its clarification, claims that the post contains misleading statements about the means-testing of housing grants provided to first-time buyers of resale flats.
In his post, Mr Leong asserted that there is no income means-test applicable to HDB grants for resale flats. However, he also acknowledged within the same paragraph that an income ceiling of S$14,000 applies, with a lower ceiling of S$9,000 to qualify for the maximum grant of S$230,000.
Despite this caveat, the MND has labelled his statement as inaccurate.
According to the MND, the Enhanced CPF Housing Grant (EHG) and CPF Housing Grant (CPF HG) provided to first-time buyers of resale flats are indeed subject to income means-testing:
Enhanced CPF Housing Grant (EHG): The MND clarified that the EHG is progressively tiered to ensure that lower-income buyers receive more substantial support. The grant offers up to S$120,000, with the amount determined based on the applicant’s household income. This tiered approach, according to the Ministry, is designed to provide more targeted assistance to those who need it most.
CPF Housing Grant (CPF HG): The Ministry also explained that the CPF HG is available to first-time home buyers of resale flats, but only to those with a monthly household income not exceeding S$14,000. The grant amount varies, offering up to S$80,000 for buyers of 2-room to 4-room resale flats, and S$50,000 for those purchasing 5-room or larger flats.
As a result of the Correction Direction, Mr Leong is required to include a notice on his original Facebook post, directing readers to the government’s clarification.
The MND’s response has been published in a Factually article titled “Corrections regarding Means-testing of HDB Resale Grants in Facebook post by Mr Leong Sze Hian on 21 Aug 2024,” which provides further details on the issue.
Mr Leong’s original post also questioned the fairness of Singapore’s public housing policies, particularly the apparent disparity in support between buyers of Build-To-Order (BTO) flats and resale flats.
The MND’s correction, however, focuses primarily on addressing the specifics of the means-testing process, without directly engaging with the broader concerns raised in Mr Leong’s post.
The post Government issues POFMA correction against Leong Sze Hian’s FB post on HDB resale flat grants appeared first on Gutzy Asia.
