MORE two- and three-room Housing Board flats will be released next year to cater to families in financial difficulties, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan promised.

In Parliament yesterday, Mr Mah also gave an assurance that HDB flats will remain affordable though prices have risen over the years. MPs had expressed concern over whether Singaporeans could afford HDB flats in the economic downturn.

For example, there was public debate last month over the high prices of newly-launched five-room flats in prime projects such as Pinnacle@Duxton and other flats built by private developers under HDB's Design, Build and Sell Scheme.

But Mr Mah made it clear that the Government would not forget poorer Singaporeans. On the building of two- and three-room flats, he said: 'This will not only allow more low-income families to own flats, but also allow families facing financial difficulties to downgrade.'

Prices for these flats range from $77,000 for lower-end two-room flats to $275,000 for the costliest three-room flats, depending on location, he said.

However, Mr Mah said the housing programme's efforts remained concentrated on threeand four-room flats that cater to the majority of Singaporeans.

Backing up his assertion that HDB flats remain affordable, he noted that, on average, flatmortgage payments add up to only a quarter of owners' household monthly income. This is lower than the international affordability benchmark of 30 per cent.

Mr Mah added that it is even more encouraging to find that '70 per cent of new flat buyers service their mortgage instalments entirely using their CPF balance, without having to touch their cash'.

Meanwhile, Parliamentary Secretary Mohamad Maliki Osman said the Government would do its utmost to help Singaporeans keep their homes during the downturn. Only 8 per cent of the 420,000 households with mortgages owe the HDB three or more months of mortgage payments.

Measures HDB offers to help owners tide over difficult periods include a reduced mortgage repayment scheme and a loanperiod extension.

Dr Maliki Osman said HDB would re-acquire flats only as a last resort.

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