Change of rule may help solve the glut of flats

The writer of “Unfair that retirees with private property cannot buy HDB flats” (Nov 24) laments that property owners are unable to buy a public flat and keep their private property, “when many HDB dwellers are owners of multiple properties”.

For more than 40 years, I have been living in the only Housing and Development Board property I have owned and missed the opportunity to buy a private property for investment, as I was unwilling to overstretch my finances.

I preferred to save while others bought and flipped properties, presumably making a pile of money until the recent cooling measures put a stop to that.

Recently, I invested in a private property and was miffed because I had to cough up the Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD).

The good times are truly over.

However, we should not be envious of those who benefited previously. If I had bought my private property earlier, I would have been spared S$100,000 of my hard-earned money. One cannot win all the time.

I think it is fine if a private property owner wants to buy a HDB flat. It would be a way to solve the glut of HDB flats in the market now if the Government is willing to do it.

But these potential buyers must pay the 7 per cent ABSD. They cannot have their cake and eat it too.