Pofma correction direction to be issued to The Alternative View for implying HDB profits from Ang Mo Kio BTO flats

Paige Lim

Published Sun, Sep 4, 2022 · 07:55 PM

FACEBOOK page The Alternative View will be issued a correction direction under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (Pofma) for implying that the Housing and Development Board (HDB) will profit from the sale of Build-To-Order (BTO) flats at Central Weave @ Ang Mo Kio.

Last Thursday (Sep 1), The Alternative View published a Facebook post which contained the headline of an AsiaOne article stating “Ang Mo Kio BTO flats: Strong demand for 5-room units despite prices of up to $877k.” The post had an image of the Minister for National Development Desmond Lee holding a bag of money, along with the caption “How much profit is HDB reaping from this?”.

In a press statement released on Sunday, the Ministry for National Development (MND) said the Facebook post published contains “a false and misleading statement”, and that HDB “will not profit from the sale of the Central Weave @ Ang Mo Kio BTO flats”.

“In fact, it will incur a loss from this project, as the estimated amount to be collected from the sale is lower than the estimated total development cost of the project. If we take into account the CPF (Central Provident Fund) housing grants that HDB will extend to eligible buyers, the deficit is higher still,” MND said.

It added that Lee has instructed the Pofma Office to issue a correction direction to The Alternative View. The platform will be required to insert a notice against the original post, with a link to the government’s clarification.

MND noted that HDB incurs a deficit from the sale of flats in every financial year, as the amount collected is less than the costs incurred. This includes the total development cost, comprising land cost and construction cost, and CPF housing grants.

A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU

Tuesday, 12 pm

Property Insights

Get an exclusive analysis of real estate and property news in Singapore and beyond.

HDB incurred a deficit of S$3.85 billion in its homeownership programme in FY2021/2022. The average deficit incurred by HDB in the last 3 years was about S$2.68 billion per year, MND said.