Leong Mun Wai on public housing policies

The Government should review its housing policies in order to deliver affordable and accessible HDB flats to all Singaporeans who need them. It should also strengthen the owner-occupation intent of public housing, protect retirement adequacy and keep public housing inclusive for every Singaporean. This call was made by NCMP Leong Mun Wai in his motion on public housing policies in Parliament on Monday (Feb 6). Mr Leong said the Progress Singapore Party (PSP) believes that Singapore's public housing policy needs a "reset". He urged the Government to proactively review its policies and tell Singaporeans what corrective actions it will be taking to resolve the housing problems. He highlighted four key concerns relating to the affordability, shortage and lease decay of flats, as well as the depletion of CPF balances. He proposed two schemes. The first is an Affordable Homes Scheme for Singaporeans to buy a new flat at a user price, which is equal to the construction cost plus a notional location premium. Mr Leong said owner-occupied public housing is a "public good" and should be treated as a form of essential public infrastructure like schools and hospitals, where land costs are not charged. Hence, as long as Singaporeans are leasing the HDB flats for owner occupation, they should not have to pay for the land cost. They should only pay the land cost when they take the HDB flats to be investments and sell them for profit. Mr Leong said such a scheme takes care of Singaporeans' needs without hurting the past reserves too much. "One policy, one objective," he said. HDB will return to its primary objective of providing affordable homes for Singaporeans while CPF will return to its primary objective of providing savings for retirement, he said. The second proposal is a Millennial Apartments Scheme, with the main supply of such units coming from prime locations near the business district. He proposed keeping a larger portion of them for rental so that a broader range of Singaporeans can access these flats. Mr Leong said such apartments will be smaller quality units, with affordable leases of two to five years for younger families or groups of singles. Mr Leong urged the Government to execute the reset swiftly to deliver the "best Valentine's Day present" of affordable and accessible HDB flats.