Singapore Public Housing Becoming Unaffordable

The HDB was tasked with the responsibility of providing public housing in 1960 to clear up the squatters and slums and resettling residents into low-cost state-built housing.
The Home Ownership Scheme later introduced acted as a hedge against inflation. It provided the home owners financial security. Later, CPF money for down payment was allowed.
Today HDB essentially provides the roofs for most Singaporeans and the HDB flats are a necessity rather than an asset or luxury. HDB flats are leasehold properties that revert back to the government after 99 years.
No HDB apartment block or estate has ever sat through the full term of the 99 years lease. The oldest HDB block or estate is at the very most 45 years old.
If we consider a generation to be a span of 30 years, then the HDB apartment could be handed down to about 2 generations after the original purchaser.
Unless continually upgraded and maintained, properties become dilapidated after 25 30 years. In New York, most high-rise buildings are replaced after 40 years.
The floodgate to mass immigration into Singapore was thrown wide opened by the Lee Hsien Loong Government commencing in 2005.
Today the re-sale prices have shot through the roof and of most HDB units hover on the S$500,000.00 mark and some have even gone beyond S$ 900.000.00.
The deteriorating situation in the current HDB re-sale market is in part due to the sudden increase by more than 530,000 PRs into Singapore and HDBs failure to provide a corresponding increase on the supply side.
Mr. Mah attempted to explain the failure by merely claiming that he was surprised and that HDB flats are still affordable. The truth is that even the re-sale market is now becoming unaffordable for Singaporeans who are planning to up-grade.
With the heat turning up on Mr Mah, a few opposition leaders have expressed their desire to contest in his stronghold of Tampines,
prompting PAP strongman Lee Kuan Yew to describe Singaporeans as being daft if they should cast a protest vote against the PAP over rising flat prices.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• singapore
• hdb
• public housing

[hansalas]

@nenekdatuk

hahaha. You cant get a 3 room for even 200K in Yishun. Mebbi, you can get 3 room for 150K in Chua Chu Kang cemetery...

[MrKingPin360]

@nenekdatuk man if i was a grown working man in the 80s and 90s i would have bought properties and land like crazy in singapore. was it obvious that prices was due to go up? i bet u that johor bahru will be the next money maker

[nenekdatuk]

@MrKingPin360 exactly, you know, with a 2k salary then, we could afford a 5 room unit at $73,000 back then in 1980's.

now, with a 2k salary, you can only scrape through with a 3 room unit at about $150,000. salaries are stagnant, but prices are soaring high. it's hard making a living here in singapore.

[MrKingPin360]

im british, my income is twice the singaporean salary. and even i cant even afford to buy homes there!!! its crazy