There had been 118 cases of completed mortgagee sales involving HDB flats from January 2013 to November 2017, according to a parliamentary reply from the Ministry of National Development on Wednesday (10 January).

It stated this in response to a question from Gan Thiam Poh, Member of Parliament (MP) for Ang Mo Kio Group Representation Constituency (GRC). Notably, mortgagee sales happen when people default on their housing loans, resulting in banks auctioning off the property to reclaim the amount they lent plus interest. Gan also asked how many flat lessees have approached the Housing and Development Board (HDB) with the intention of selling their flats to the government agency, as they were unable to dispose the unit via the open market. “HDB does not buy back flats from flat owners and does not keep records of requests by flat owners who wish to sell ......