Housing and Development Board
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The HDB Hub at Toa Payoh, headquarters of the Housing and Development Board of Singapore. |
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Large scale new towns are characteristic of HDB projects. |
The
Housing and Development Board (HDB) is a
statutory board of the
Ministry of National Development is responsible for
Singapore's
public housing programme. It is generally credited with clearing up the
squatters and
slums of the
1960s and resettling residents into low-cost government-built housing.
Shortly after
independence,
Singapore faced a serious problem of housing shortages. In response, the government passed the
Housing and Development Act of 1960 which replaced the existing
Singapore Improvement Trust with the Housing and Development Board.
Led by
Lim Kim San, its first priority during formation was to build as many low-cost housing units as possible, and the Five-Year Plan was introduced. The housing that was initially built was mostly meant for rental by the low income group. The
Home Ownership Scheme was also introduced to help this group of people to buy instead of rent their flats. Later, the people were allowed to use their
Central Provident Fund money for downpayment. These efforts were however not successful enough then in convincing the people living in the squatter settlements to move into these flats. It was only later, after the
Bukit Ho Swee Fire, that HDB's efficiency and earnestness won the people over.
54,430 housing units were built between
1960 and
1965 by the HDB. Due to land constraints, high-rise and high-density
flats were chosen.
The policies of the HDB were largely in line of the
manifesto set out by the Singapore government; the government was promoting
social cohesion and
patriotism within the country. In 1968, citizens were allowed to use their pension fund (
Central Provident Fund) to purchase and own the homes they were renting to give them a stake of the country and as an incentive to work hard. In
1980, a
quota was introduced to ensure that no particular
racial group concentrated together to prevent
sectarianism. To prevent
social stratification that may lead to social conflict, the housing of different income groups are mixed together in
estates and
new towns.
In the
1990s, the HDB concentrated on the upgrading of existing older flats, installing new facilities such as
lifts that stop on every floor.
Studio apartments were built specially to suit the needs of senior citizens in Singapore's aging society. However, some of these flats were quickly bought up by young working singles.
About 80-90% of Singapore's population are currently living in HDB flats, with high-density housing being a solution to the problem of overcrowding. There are a number of eligibility conditions in order for a flat to be purchased. Buyers must be a Singaporean
citizen, and be 21 years of age and have a
"proper family nucleus". Other requirements concern household status, time requirements,
income and other special requirements (see
here for details).
Ownership in public housing is limited to a 99-year lease. There are several types of public and semi-public housing available, classified on the basis of the number of rooms and size of the flat. Semi-public housing is governed under HUDC instead of HDB and have a much larger floor area. Size is usually denoted by the terms such as
four-room,
five-room or similar, and is based on the number of rooms in addition to the
living room but newer five-room apartments come with only 3-rooms & dinner room. Although newer HDB developed flats in new towns include some condominium facilities.
Most of the residential housing developments in Singapore are publicly built. Thus, public housing in Singapore is not considered a sign of poverty or a lower standard of living; as compared to public housing in other developed countries where land constraint is a non-issue and property pricing is significantly cheaper. Very few people in Singapore live below the
poverty line.
For example, a HDB 4-room flat depending on age, environment and surrounding amenities can have a sale value of between
S$200,000 to above S$300,000 and a HUDC Executive maisonette above S$500,000. However, in contrast a privately developed condominium type housing can cost as much as S$1,000,000 and above. The largest HDB flats (in terms of floor area) ever built are two-storey Executive Masionettes built in the 1990s which can have floor area ranging from 160 - 190 m².
List of average new & resale prices of Housing Development Board flats| Period | Room Type | Size in sq m (Avg) | Price (in S$) New | Price (in S$) Resale | | 1970s | 3 room | 50 | $15,000 | - |
| 4 room | 75 | $20,000 | - |
| 5 room | 100 | $25,000 | - |
| 1980s sharp rise@81 | 3 room | 65 | $50,000 | - |
| 4 room | 90 | $80,000 | - |
| 5 room | 115 | $110,000 | - |
| Executive | 140 | $140,000 | - |
| 1990s sharp rise@93 till 97 | 3 room | 70 | $120,000 | $200,000 |
| 4 room | 95 | $170,000 | $270,000 |
| 5 room | 125 | $230,000 | $350,000 |
| Executive | 145 | $280,000 | $420,000 |
| 2000s 1 | 3 room | 65 | $110,000 | $150,000 |
| 4 room | 90 | $180,000 | $230,000 |
| 5 room | 110 | $240,000 | $290,000 |
| Executive | 130 | $300,000 | $350,000 |
| 1 Average floor sizes was decreased for new flat build around year 2000 but with premium design finishing except 3-rm unit. |
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Neighbours in an HDB block usually share a common corridor. |
Singapore maintains a quota system of ethnicities within the HDB program. There are strict requirements as to who can move into an HDB flat, based on whether they are
Chinese,
Indian,
Malay, or another race. Singapore maintains that there must be a certain ratio of ethnicities within the complex, and any move-in or move-out must adhere to this policy. The HDB declares that this is to promote homogeny amongst Singapore's diverse population, in order to prevent
racialism and
racial segregation and preventing heterogenous racial blocks from forming. This system arose after Singapore's 1965 split from Malaysia, due, in part, to their dissatisfaction with
Ketuanan Melayu a Malaysian system of racialist beliefs. However, the quota system has been criticised for being racist in itself: in addition, some minority residents complained in letters to the
Straits Times that because they were required to sell only to people of their same race to preserve the quota, this ironically discriminated against the minorities, since they had less people to sell to.
Other considerations is the priority given to buyers, as well as citizenship and residency requirements, based on the existence of children and the number of them.
Buying a new flat through HDB can be done by three different modes,
Build To Order,
Walk In Selection and
Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme.
*
Main Upgrading Programme (MUP), launched in March
1992*
Interim Upgrading Programme (IUP), launched in August
1993*
Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme (SERS), launched in August
1995*
Lift Upgrading Programme (LUP), launched
2001HDB's
headquarters were previously located at
Bukit Merah. They were moved to its new premises at the HDB Hub at 480 Lorong 6
Toa Payoh on
10 June 2002 [
1].
*
Ang Mo Kio New Town*
Bedok New Town*
Bishan New Town*
Bukit Batok New Town*
Bukit Merah*
Bukit Panjang New Town*
Choa Chu Kang New Town*
Clementi New Town*
Geylang*
Hougang New Town*
Jurong East New Town*
Jurong West New Town*
Kallang/
Whampoa*
Pasir Ris New Town*
Punggol New Town*
Queenstown*
Sembawang New Town*
Serangoon New Town*
Sengkang New Town*
Simei New Town*
Tampines New Town*
Toa Payoh New Town*
Woodlands New Town*
Yishun New Town*
Ayer Rajah Estate*
Braddell Heights Estate*Brickworks
Estate*
Bukit Ho Swee Estate*
Bukit Timah Estate*
Changi Village*
Marine Parade Estate*
Telok Blangah Estate*
Tiong Bahru Estate*
HDB Website*
HDB InfoWEB - Buying A New HDB Flat (eServices)*
HDB Buy v. Rent Calculator*
Guide to Housing & Accommodation in Singapore
