HDB to buy back flats from HDB homeowners affected by Ethnic Integration Policy

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In a bid to ameliorate the Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP), the Housing and Development Board (HDB) is looking to buy flats from eligible homeowners who are facing the constraints of the policy in selling their homes at reasonable prices.

Under the EIP, homeowners could only sell their HDB flats to homebuyers of the same ethnicity, should the limit on the occupancy of the block or neighbourhood by an ethnic group be reached.

The move, announced by Minister for National Development Desmond Lee last month, would bolster homeowners’ sale of flats on top of previous measures, including an extension of the timeframe for selling the property— which presently stands at six months— and the waiving of EIP limits in exceptional cases.

Aside from fulfilling the Minimum Occupation Period (MOP) and owning the flat for at least 10 years, homeowners would also need to have made consistent efforts in marketing and selling the flat over a continuous period— currently six months.

In providing a space that seeks to serve as a bridge between residents of different ethnicities, the EIP is instrumental in fostering a deeper understanding of one another’s cultures and closer relationships.

The EIP, however, does not extend to private housing. Former Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong had explained in 2020, that not only would the implementation of the EIP for private properties be challenging, but it would also have far-reaching implications for the property market in general, and all private property owners.

The constraints of the EIP might see homeowners letting go of their HDB flat at a lower price than that of a comparable unit for which Chinese buyers are eligible. Additionally, the EIP is predicated on the Chinese-Malay-Indian-Others (CMIO) model. Inter-ethnic households, for instance, illuminate the drawback of such categorisation.

We might, one day, move beyond the EIP, in nurturing a close-knitted community. For now, however, HDB’s offer to buy flats from homeowners who require the assistance in selling their flats at a fair price, against the backdrop of the EIP, is a step towards ensuring equity.

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