THERE ARE a total of 100,000 new flats being launched from 2021-25. There is an Enhanced CPF Housing Grant of up to $120,000 for first-timer families buying a flat. A Proximity Housing Grant which gives resale flat buyers $20,000 for staying within 4km of their parents or child also exists to keep the family unit strong.
These were some of the facts brought forth at the PAP Policy Forum (PPF) Insights event, Public Housing & Our Singapore Social Compact, this past Sunday (3 Nov) afternoon. The event was held to dispel myths about the housing market, and to better understand the aspirations of different groups of Singaporeans “and from there, translate some of these into policy changes”, as PPF Advisor and Minister for Transport Chee Hong Tat said.
Minister for National Development Desmond Lee spoke at the event, which was held while the PPF celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. He touched on Singapore’s resale flat prices; he explained that $1 million resale flats are the vast minority and that the PAP Government puts in measures to actively cool the resale market.
“$1 million flats make up 2 per cent of all resale transactions over the last two years. Two per cent,” he said. “High floor, brand new-flats, good location. So people desire some of these flats.”
“But not across the board.” added Minister Lee, noting that HDB houses about 80 per cent of Singaporeans. Four-room flats above $1,000,000? 0.5 per cent of resale transactions,” he clarified.
As for the PAP’s measures to cool the market, Minister Lee recapped that these are multi-pronged, including changing popular mindsets that everyone can sell their flats at such high prices.
“This psychology is something we have to combat. And you also need to make sure the supply-demand balance gets correct,” said Minister Lee. “ So what have we done? Injected more supply. We’ve implemented four rounds of cooling measures and let it work its way through.”
These measures include August’s lowering of the maximum loan amount to 75 per cent of a flat’s value, versus 80 per cent previously; this loan cap keeps flat prices more in reach for average- and middle-income owners.
”Now, you see a lot of HDB press releases. We keep telling people that property market cycles, those you buy at the high end of the property market cycle, are at high risk of being burnt if the cycle corrects,” said Minister Lee.
HDB: Affordable homes for all
The PPF also brought together two of Singapore’s top experts on housing for a panel with Minister Lee: Professor Sing Tien Foo of the Department of Real Estate from the National University of Singapore, and Professor Cheong Koon Hean, former CEO of HDB and current Chair of the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities.
Prof Cheong spoke about how HDB’s consistent aim is home ownership for all.
“HDB designs a whole range of flats. Why? It’s for different budgets and needs,” said Prof Cheong. “There are many price points. Every time HDB launches its BTOs, it makes sure that there will be at least some flats that probably the lowest income can afford.”
She also added that HDB also designs new towns with high standards of amenities, with considerations for sustainability, accessibility and for residents to live life well around their communities.
Minister Desmond Lee wrapped up the event with a clarion call, and a promise to Singaporeans.
“[The Ministry of National Development has] deficits every year. Because we are a cost centre to help achieve the social goal of enabling Singaporeans to own a stake in the nation and stability in having their own home,” said Minister Lee. “It’s a commitment, generation after generation, that the PAP has upheld.”
And from all this work being done — from policy to construction to social — it is what our party will keep doing so that public housing remains affordable and accessible for all Singaporeans.
