POFMA Correction Direction Issued To S’pore FB Page For Suggesting HDB Profits From Ang Mo Kio BTO

The Alternative View Gets POFMA Correction Direction For Implying HDB Profits From AMK BTO Project

On Sunday (4 Sep), the Ministry of National Development (MND) announced that a Facebook page will receive a correction direction from the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) Office for posting falsehoods about the recently-launched build-to-order (BTO) flats in Ang Mo Kio (AMK).

The Alternative View published the post in question via Facebook on 1 Sep, implying that HDB will profit from the BTO flats.

MND has corrected the assumption, stating that HDB will incur a loss instead. Complying with the order, the Facebook page has inserted a notice on the original post with a link to MND’s clarification.

The Alternative View gets POFMA correction direction for post implying HDB will make profits from AMK BTO project

According to a press release by MND dated 4 Sep, The Alternative View posted a picture on 1 Sep showing an AsiaOne article with the headline, “Ang Mo Kio BTO flats: Strong demand for 5-room units despite prices of up to S$877k.”

Along with the article screenshot was an image of Minister for National Development Desmond Lee holding up a bag of money, with the caption asking, “How much profit is HDB reaping from this?”

Another caption read, “Don’t be surprised if HDB starts selling flats at $1m.”

The post thus implies that HDB will profit from the sale of the Central Weave @ AMK BTO flats, part of the August 2022 BTO sales exercise, MND said.

It refutes this implication, noting that HDB will actually be making a loss.

As such, Mr Lee has instructed the POFMA Office to issue a correction direction to The Alternative View.

The platform must insert a notice in the original post correcting the statement, with a link to the government’s clarification.

HDB will incur loss from AMK BTO flats

MND stated that HDB is actually making a loss on the Central Weave @ AMK BTO project.

The amount that HDB will gain from the sale is anticipated to be lower than the estimated total development cost of the project, it said. Taking the Central Provident Fund (CPF) housing grants that the authority will extend to eligible buyers into consideration, the deficit becomes even higher.

HDB additionally collects a lower amount from the sale of flats every year compared to their costs, which include the total development cost as well as CPF housing grants. As a result, they incur a deficit each year.

From the financial year 2021 to 2022, HDB incurred a deficit of S$3.85 billion in its Homeownership Programme. For the last three years, the authority has also incurred an average deficit of around S$2.68 billion per year.

HDB reflects these annual deficits, funded by government grants, in their annual audited financial statements, and noted it is “largely due to significant subsidies for new flats” and the disbursement of CPF housing grants for eligible buyers.

“Because of this, most first-time buyers use less than a quarter of their monthly income to service their housing loans,” MND pointed out.

Close to 90% of first-timer families are also able to service their housing loans using CPF with little to no cash payments.

“HDB will continue to use the allocated resources judiciously to provide affordable and quality homes for Singaporeans,” they said.

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Featured image adapted from Housing & Development Board.