HDB does not price new flats based on costs: Desmond Lee
Minister for National Development Desmond Lee recently gave a good explainer on the issue of land cost and HDB BTO Valuation in parliament. His explanation also covers why the HDB runs at a deficit of a couple or three billion dollars annually. Unfortunately, the parliament is a poor avenue for treating an important subject that […]
With increasing numbers of million-dollar HDB homes in Singapore, is public housing still affordable?
Since the end of the Circuit Breaker, demand for housing has pushed resale flats prices to a new high, with HDB resale prices rising for the 26th straight month in August 2022. The sale of million-dollar HDB did not slow down. In September 2022 alone, HDB recorded another 45 million-dollar HDB flats transaction, more than the 33 million-dollar […]
Where in the world has a Government produced homes for every family?
Singaporeans love to complain. They want their BTO fast. They want it cheap. And they want it big. For an island state that is so small – just 719 sq km – Singapore has managed to build homes for 85% of households. Countries with vast lands have not done so. While many governments have focused […]
I could not ask their sons to fight and die for the properties of the wealthy: Lee Kuan Yew
A newly independent Singapore needed to be able to defend herself. To this end, Mr Lee Kuan Yew decided to build a national service armed force. “If we could not defend ourselves, nobody, not even our people, would have faith in our future,” Mr Lee said in a speech made in 2000 made at the […]
What retirement? I’m ready for life! See you at “Ready for Life” Digital Festival!
You know what? Retirement is the beginning of new life. Yup! It’s the start of a golden chapter of life’s journey. You have to retire to do nothing. The things that you have always wanted to do but could not find time to do because there are datelines to meet and projects to handle. Now […]
Do you own your 99-year leasehold HDB flat?
Some have tried to argue that you do not own your HDB flat because it is on leasehold. You are merely renting it permanently, they claimed. This argument does not hold water at all. The basic rule of law is that you cannot sell something that does not belong to you. It would be illegal […]
Workers’ Party’s home-renting suggestion will bring Singapore back to more than 50 years ago
The Workers’ Party proposed that home-renting be made mainstream to create a diversity of housing options. Speaking in an adjournment motion on 2 November 2021, Workers’ Party MP Louis Chua said that home renting would satisfy the needs of young couples to increase fertility rate, cater to freelancers without a fixed income and provide greater […]
Home ownership is not superior to home renting: WP MP Louis Chua
MP Louis Chua of the Workers’ Party said that one of the biggest misconceptions is that home ownership is superior to home renting. In his adjournment motion on 2 November 2021, Mr Chua pushed for a greater diversity of housing options. The key problem, he said, is the “severe shortage” of Housing Board (HDB) rental […]
70,000 take advantage of the Matched Retirement Savings scheme; $40 million in top-ups.
70,000 CPF members will receive about $40 million in matching grants from the Government in January 2022 for the cash top-ups made to their Retirement Account (RA) between 1 January and 30 June this year, the CPF Board said in a press release on 18 August. Singaporeans can use the Matched Retirement Savings Scheme to […]
Almost $17 billion in interest credited to members’ CPF accounts in 2020
Last year, a total of $16.9 billion in interest earned was credited to members’ CPF accounts. The upward trend to voluntarily top-up CPF accounts continues Since people discovered that CPF is a great way to build up their retirement funds through its attractive interest rates, there has been nan upward trend to top-up CPF accounts. […]