HDB incurred deficit of S$744 million on upgrading, rejuvenation of towns & flats in FY2021

Of the S$744 million, S$392 million was incurred for upgrading programmes, such as the Home Improvement Programme and Lift Upgrading Programme.

Lean Jinghui | October 31, 2022, 12:00 PM

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HDB incurred a deficit of S$392 million for upgrading programmes conducted in various HDB estates around Singapore.

A deficit of S$352 million was also recorded for residential works, for a total of S$744 million.

In its annual report on Financial Year (FY) 2021, HDB said that it had incurred its largest ever net deficit of S$4.367 billion, before government grants.

This is the highest ever deficit recorded in Singapore's public housing history, in the period beginning on April 1, 2021 and ending on March 31, 2022.

More upgrading works carried out in 2021

A deficit of S$392 million was incurred for upgrading programmes, such as the Home Improvement Programme (HIP) and Lift Upgrading Programme (LUP).

This was an increase of more than 60 per cent, compared with the S$242 million deficit incurred in FY2020.

According to HDB, this increase in deficit is due to higher expenditure on the HIP, as construction works picked up last year with the easing of pandemic measures.

Under the HIP scheme, an estimated 53,792 flats have been upgraded in FY 2021, to address "common maintenance issues" related to ageing flats.

Money for residential ancillary functions

A deficit of S$352 million was also incurred for "residential residential ancillary" functions in FY2021, including the provision and management of facilities such as car parks in housing estates, and planning and building administration.

The increase in spending was mainly due to works such as car park improvement and the reconstruction of drains, as well as repairing of electrical works.

This is higher than the deficit of S$307 million incurred in FY2020.

Rental and pandemic support

Separately, HDB also incurred a deficit of S$121 million under the various rental housing schemes.

S$3.6 million was also written off for rental arrears confirmed irrecoverable in FY2021.

To help tide through the Covid-19 pandemic, HDB said that help for home owners, such as the suspension of late payment charges, was provided. This amounted to about S$15 million.

In addition, waiving of rental costs was carried out for about 8,500 qualifying tenants in HDB shops and social-communal facilities, which amounted to S$115 million.

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Top image via HDB Facebook