Residential property owners who currently house up to six unrelated people will need to apply to HDB or URA – for HDB flats and private residential properties respectively – to include the additional occupants.
Occupancy includes the property owners and the occupiers, as well as the tenants.
Owners of HDB flats, as well as owners and tenants of HDB commercial property owners, are currently required to seek the board’s approval before the tenancy commencement date. This requirement will continue to apply.
Applications to rent out HDB flats or bedrooms may be submitted online via its e-services, with applicants required to pay an administrative fee of S$10 per bedroom or S$20 per whole flat rented out.
HDB commercial property owners and tenants who wish to rent out their living quarters can apply via the GoBusiness Licensing Portal. They must pay a S$100 administrative fee when doing so.
Meanwhile, owners of larger private residential properties of at least 90 sq m who wish to rent out their properties to up to eight unrelated people are required to register with URA, via its e-services. An administrative fee of S$20 is payable with each registration.
Upon successful registration, the owner will be informed that they can use the residential property to accommodate up to eight unrelated people, each subject to a minimum stay duration of three consecutive months.
“HDB flat owners, commercial property owners and private residential property owners, including their tenants, are required to adhere to the occupancy cap and minimise dis-amenities to the public. The authorities will take strict enforcement action against any infringement of the occupancy cap,” HDB and URA said.
“In the event of serious dis-amenities, the approval or authorisation to rent to up to eight unrelated people will be revoked or cease.”
Any extension of the relaxed occupancy cap beyond 2026 will be subject to review, taking into account the demand and supply of open market rentals, they added.
MORE HOUSING ON THE WAY
HDB and URA noted that the government has increased the supply of public and private housing, while also working closely with the construction industry to address supply-side challenges.
A “significant housing supply” coming onstream over the next few years will help meet rental demand as well.
Almost 40,000 homes are expected to be completed across the public and private residential markets this year alone, the highest number of home completions in the last five years, HDB and URA said.
About 100,000 public and private residential units are also expected to be completed from 2023 to 2025.
“As these units come onstream, Singaporeans who are currently renting while awaiting the completion of their new homes will vacate their rental units,” they said. “This will alleviate the tightness in the rental market by increasing the available supply of units for rental.”
Additionally, HDB more than doubled the supply of flats available under the Parenthood Provisional Housing Scheme (PPHS), from 800 units in 2021 to about 2,000 units today.
“We will further double PPHS supply to 4,000 units by 2025,” the agencies said. “This will support eligible Singaporean families who need interim housing while awaiting the completion of their new flats.”