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Posts tagged with "hdb flats"
PAYM forum: Now I know why flats are “affordable”? (Part 2)
Apr. 14 | This is the second part of my report on the People’s Association Youth Movement (PAYM) policy forum @ Jurong GRC, which took place on Sunday (11 April). The discussion, entitled “HDB Flats: Towering Pinnacles, sky-high prices?”, was attended by...
Resident upset with noisy foreign neighbours
Apr. 6 | The following is an email sent to The Online Citizen and copied to various government ministries, including the Ministry of National Development, the HDB, JTC, and the local media. We publish the letter here in full without edit. Hi, After months of decline,...
Selling flats to settle debts
Mar. 28 | The growing trend of homeowners selling their flats to pay off debts has got the authorities concerned. So, the government is tightening the use of CPF for buying HDB flats.
HDB to Goh Meng Seng:
Feb. 26 | We are unable to forward you a copy of the survey questionnaire. Research & Planning Department, HDB
The final nail in the “HDB affordability” coffin?
Feb. 12 | By Leong Sze Hian I refer to the article “HDB resale prices: Don’t just find a scapegoat – It is not an issue of us-versus-them, but one of a rise in demand” (ST, Feb 11). It states: “But actually, what exactly is the issue? Are rising...
SERS flats converted to condo for expats
Feb. 5 | Andrew Loh / Joshua Chiang Blocks 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 along Tiong Bahru Road were built by the Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT) which operated between 1927 and 1959. The SIT was a body set up by the British colonial authority to solve the housing problems...
SERS flats to be rented out to foreigners again – this time in Bedok
Feb. 4 | Andrew Loh / Leong Sze Hian / Special thanks to Lynn Lee “If everybody jumps onto this safety net, whether they deserve to or they don’t, that safety net is going to break. … They could easily afford a studio apartment or a small resale flat....
50 years of HDB – homelessness is its biggest challenge
Jan. 23 | Andrew Loh Come next Tuesday to Friday, the Housing and Development Board will host the International Housing Conference, an event to showcase and boast about the HDB’s achievements over the last 50 years. Titled, “Sustainable Housing : Charting New...
Needy waits 2 years under HDB’s Public Rental Scheme
Jan. 20 | Lisa Li I refer to Ms Kee Lay Cheng’s letter ‘Priority given to truly needy’ in the TODAY paper (13 Jan 2010) in reply to Mr Leong Sze Hian. According to Ms Kee, who is the Deputy Director (Land Administration) Housing and Development Board, “HDB...
TOC Editorial: A question of supply
Jan. 7 | HDB should invest more in low-income housing The news last month that two HDB blocks in Toa Payoh – previously slated for redevelopment – have been converted to dormitories for foreign workers employed by Singapore’s new integrated resorts have...
High HDB prices driven by speculators, hurting genuine home seekers
Jan. 4 | The following is a letter to the Today newspaper by Mr See Leong Kit which was “rejected for publication.” Your report “Asset that keeps growing” (TODAY Dec 30) highlighted Minister Mah Bow Tan’s simplistic and optimistic view...
HDB flats – a precious resource for foreign workers?
Jan. 1 | The following is a letter from Mr Leong Sze Hian to the Today newspaper. It was published on Today Online on 31 Dec 2009. I REFER to “Asset that keeps growing” (Dec 30) and reports that two Housing and Development Board (HDB) blocks in Toa...
Year In Review: HDB flats – subsidy, affordability, prices.
Dec. 30 | Statistics can be interesting and fun. TOC’s Fang Shihan sat down with Mr Leong Sze Hian to talk about the main bread-and-butter issues of 2009. In this Part One of the interview, Mr Leong looks at one of the biggest issues this year – the prices...
“I did not expect prices to go up” – Mah Bow Tan
Dec. 30 | Nobody, no matter how prescient, no matter how clever, would have been able to predict that this is what is going to happen this year. All of us were caught off-guard…I did not expect the prices to go up. But the point is, are we able to respond...
S’poreans more able to afford larger flats?
Dec. 7 | Leong Sze Hian I REFER to the report, ‘Cool response to smaller HDB flats’ (Nov 27), which stated that there were much fewer applications for HDB two- and three-room flats, relative to larger flats. The reasoning that this was due to more...
“PRs need to have a home in Singapore” – Mah Bow Tan
Nov. 24 | PR families are not eligible for housing subsidies that Singaporeans enjoy. They are not allowed to buy a new flat from HDB or enjoy any housing grant. However, PRs need to have a home in Singapore. Therefore, they are allowed to buy properties from...
Mah’s explanation does not square with HDB’s annual report
Nov. 20 | Leong Sze Hian Number of flats sold declined, contradicting Mah’s explanation on reasons for HDB’s S$2 billion deficit. On 7 November, the Minister for National Development, Mr Mah Bow Tan, explained why the Housing and Development Board has incurred...
Higher property tax from next year
Nov. 19 | HOMEOWNERS: be prepared to pay higher property taxes next year. Straits Times
HDB resale prices hit record highs
Oct. 24 | [The 'cash-over-valuation' (COV)] – or the cash top-up payable by buyers – quadrupled from a median of $3,000 in the previous quarter to $12,000. Straits Times, “HDB resale prices at record high”
Prices of HDB flats – press censorship?
Oct. 2 | Mr See Leong Kit had sent a letter to the Today newspaper on the pricing of HDB flats (16 Sept). The HDB responded to his letter on 25th Sept. (See links to both letters below). The Today newspaper, however, has declined to publish the follow-up letter...
Social cost of being too money-minded
Sep. 19 | I am resigned to the fact that I cannot plan financially for a family. I am 33 years old and if I had a son now, I would have to bear his expenses and the cost of education until he was 24 (including NS), and I would be 57. I am certain working life...
Disillusioned with trying to purchase a HDB flat
Sep. 19 | The following is a comment by one of our readers in response to an earlier post on TOC, “HDB flats – “affordability will always be there”, says Mah.” We publish it here without edits. Disillusion A few years ago, just 4 month shy of my 35th...
HDB flats – “affordability will always be there”, says Mah
Sep. 3 | The flat prices would probably go up … by 1 per cent, 2 per cent… It will just keep on going up if the economy recovers as people expect, and if confidence returns but affordability will always be there. National Development Minister, Mah Bow...
Cost of building HDB flats – finally an answer?
Sep. 2 | Leong Sze Hian I refer to the replies by the Housing and Development Board (HDB) to the various letters in the Straits Times forum page over the past few weeks. (See below) I also refer to media reports (“SGX mainboard-listed BBR secures S$104.2m HDB...
HDB prices keep rising – even in worst recession
Aug. 23 | The HDB resale price index has surged relentlessly since 2007. Since the first quarter of 2007, the index has increased 35.3 per cent and is now at a record high, even though the economy is still recovering from downturn.This is an anomaly the Government...
Some speculation but no bubble, says Mah
Jul. 30 | I wouldn’t say there’s excessive speculation at the moment, but there is some element of speculation involved. I think some of the practices that you saw in the last property boom are starting to come back. So I think we’ll have to...
More graduates = higher HDB prices?
Jul. 27 | Leong Sze Hian What has record HDB prices got to do with falling private property prices and the number of students graduating from tertiary institutions? According to the article, “HDB prices hit record high” (Today, Jul 24), prices of HDB...
Profiteering or justified? What is HDB’s stand?
Apr. 18 | The following is a letter which was sent to the Straits Times. Ash Tong As the recession might be hitting Singapore hard, I hope that the HDB will be transparent with how their market pricing model works. I refer to the 4 room flats in Treetops@punggol...
Blog Feature: No frills for HDB flats, no playgrounds for children
Feb. 12 | Today’s Blog Feature is from Lucky Tan who blogs at Singapore Mind, on no-frills HDB flats. On the same day it was revealed that Temasek Holdings and GIC together probably lost close to $100B or more, this topic about no frills housing surfaced. See...
