Desmond Lee on affordable and accessible public housing
The Government is doing its utmost to improve the accessibility and affordability of HDB flats, recognising that policies cannot remain static as public needs and aspirations change. National Development Minister Desmond Lee said this in Parliament on Monday (Feb 6) as he moved a motion on the issue. This was after non-constituency MPs from the Progress Singapore Party filed a motion calling on the Government to review its public housing policies. Mr Lee said HDB is ramping up supply till 2025 to meet increased demand. It will launch more Shorter Waiting Time flats from 2024 onwards and progressively ensure that these form a larger proportion of the supply of new flats. The Government will also continue to review how to better allocate flat supply to meet the most urgent housing needs. Mr Lee said the consensus from extensive public engagement is that first-timers should be prioritised. So the Government is studying how to provide even more support for such families, how to reduce the high rejection rate for BTO applications, and looking at whether more support can be given to first-timers buying a resale flat. HDB is also building more flats in mature estates and consciously moderating prices of such units. However, the minister emphasised that policies have to stay sustainable and with “substantial” fiscal resources already going into supporting the Home Ownership Programme, any further increase will come with trade-offs. Mr Lee said over the past three pandemic years, flat supply has become tight and resale prices have risen, for a confluence of reasons. However, even with rising construction costs, BTO prices, which are set based on affordability outcomes, have been kept almost flat. He pointed out that close to 70 per cent of BTO flats launched in 2022 across all estates could be affordably purchased with a median household income of S$8,400, at a mortgage servicing ratio of 25 per cent or less. It takes four to five years of total household income to buy a home in Singapore, versus eight to 15 years in other major cities such as London, Los Angeles and Sydney. Around 85 per cent of low-income households in Singapore own their homes, he said.
The Government is doing its utmost to improve the accessibility and affordability of HDB flats, recognising that policies cannot remain static as public needs and aspirations change. National Development Minister Desmond Lee said this in Parliament on Monday (Feb 6) as he moved a motion on the issue. This was after non-constituency MPs from the Progress Singapore Party filed a motion calling on the Government to review its public housing policies. Mr Lee said HDB is ramping up supply till 2025 to meet increased demand. It will launch more Shorter Waiting Time flats from 2024 onwards and progressively ensure that these form a larger proportion of the supply of new flats. The Government will also continue to review how to better allocate flat supply to meet the most urgent housing needs. Mr Lee said the consensus from extensive public engagement is that first-timers should be prioritised. So the Government is studying how to provide even more support for such families, how to reduce the high rejection rate for BTO applications, and looking at whether more support can be given to first-timers buying a resale flat. HDB is also building more flats in mature estates and consciously moderating prices of such units. However, the minister emphasised that policies have to stay sustainable and with “substantial” fiscal resources already going into supporting the Home Ownership Programme, any further increase will come with trade-offs. Mr Lee said over the past three pandemic years, flat supply has become tight and resale prices have risen, for a confluence of reasons. However, even with rising construction costs, BTO prices, which are set based on affordability outcomes, have been kept almost flat. He pointed out that close to 70 per cent of BTO flats launched in 2022 across all estates could be affordably purchased with a median household income of S$8,400, at a mortgage servicing ratio of 25 per cent or less. It takes four to five years of total household income to buy a home in Singapore, versus eight to 15 years in other major cities such as London, Los Angeles and Sydney. Around 85 per cent of low-income households in Singapore own their homes, he said.
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