News

The latest property cooling measures seem to create another set of issues. Those who genuinely cannot afford to own a home and have been renting may have to face higher rent, in competition with those waiting out the 15-month period after selling their private properties ( , Sept 30). Drastic steps need to be taken now to help every Singaporean to own a home. No one in Singapore should be allowed to own an HDB flat and a private property at the same time. It doesn't seem logical that a person who owns a private property cannot buy a resale flat, but a person who owns an HDB flat can buy a private property and rent one of the properties out. A flat owner who buys a private property should be required to sell the flat. He should not be able to live in the private property while using the HDB flat as a cash cow. These cooling measures will fatten the cow even further.