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THE Housing Board may have delayed its plan to use housing agencies to sell its flats, but industrial landlord JTC Corporation has gone ahead with it.

 

It has put 100 of its rental flats up for sale and may release another 100 soon.

 

The first 100 flats, mostly three-room units in western and central towns like Bukit Merah, Clementi and Queenstown, are marketed by ERA.

 

JTC has also called a second tender for flats in central and eastern areas like Ang Mo Kio, Bishan and Tampines. It is not known if the tender has been awarded.

 

When contacted, JTC would not say how many of its 4,000 flats under the Scheme for Housing of Foreign Talent (Shift) are up for sale.

 

It only said: 'We are working with our housing agents to sell off our Shift flats at a gradual pace. There is no fixed quantum but the sale will be done according to market demand, at market prices and at a pace that the resale market can absorb.

 

'JTC is in no hurry to dispose of its flats.'

 

JTC bought 4,000 resale HDB flats in the 1990s to provide cheap housing to foreign professionals and students as part of a government plan to attract overseas talent.

But there is less need for them now since the HDB eased rules on sub-letting of flats in 2003. In February this year, 10,800 flats were sub-let out, compared to 9,171 a year ago.

 

About 90 per cent of these 4,000 JTC flats - which range from three-room units to executive flats - are now occupied, which means JTC could sell the 400 that are vacant.

 

The Straits Times understands housing agencies working with JTC are bound by a confidentiality agreement.

 

But sources said at least eight agencies - PropNex, ERA, C&H Realty, OrangeTee, Visa Property (part of Roof Real Estate group), EM Services, Century 21 and RH Housing Agency - have been selected by JTC to tender for the job.

 

ERA would not comment on how many flats it has sold since last month. Nor would it confirm talk that it offered to charge JTC zero commission for selling the flats.

 

When the HDB called a tender last year to hire an agent to put some its unsold stock on the resale market, ERA was prepared to forgo commission and pay the HDB a sum for every flat it sold. The HDB cited this offer of zero or even negative commissions as the reason it scrapped its tender to pick an agent for some its unsold flats.

 

Although it did not say so, one other possible reason the tender was scrapped is the criticism it drew from some owners of HDB flats.

 

These owners were worried that potential buyers would go for new HDB flats over theirs, and so force them to lower their prices. Housing agents noted that JTC did not sell new flats, but resale flats, which might not affect prices as much.

 

Dennis Wee Properties director Chris Koh said offering to charge zero or negative commissions could reduce the number of buyers.

 

When queried about the zero commission, JTC said: 'The agreement was that the appointed agent must adhere to market practices in marketing the flats.

 

'We are currently monitoring... If necessary, we will fine-tune the sale programme.'