The Housing and Development Board (HDB) has reached a milestone in its 50-year history, with the completion of its one millionth flat.
With the completion of Treelodge@Punggol’s 709 units, HDB has for the first time crossed the one-million milestone in its home-building programme.
On Sunday, the keys to the one-millionth flat were handed over to the couple - Mr Wang Weiji and his wife, Christina Ng. The couple got married in 2008, and have been living with Mr Wang’s parents in Hougang.
Ms Ng said they got the flat they wanted on their first try. They paid $245,000 for a 4-room unit, a price which Ms Ng describes as reasonable.
The couple signed for the flat in 2007, at a time when HDB resale prices were high, and supply of new flats was tight.
The HDB’s Resale Price Index shows that in the third quarter of 2007, prices went up about 16 per cent between the first and fourth quarters. And in November 2007, the government announced it would be building 7,000 new HDB flats over seven months to help first-time home-buyers.
Three years on, the supply crunch might have eased, but some concerns over affordability remain. Speaking at the Treelodge@Punggol event, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, noted that this has “always been an issue”.
“We’ve had new residents who moved into Pasir Ris, we’ve had new residents move into Sengkang, and now we have new residents moving into Punggol. And in each era, there have always been concerns about affordability.
“But as you can see, residents have been able to move in, been able to afford their flats, and we expect that would be so in the future as well,” said Mr Teo, who is also the MP for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC.
He noted that there are policies to help Singaporeans whatever their income. These include an Additional Housing Grant of up to S$40,000 to help lower-income families buy in the open market, as well as opening up more options for middle-class Singaporeans to purchase a new HDB flat.
“Singaporeans know that if they work hard and budget wisely, they can aspire to upgrade to a better flat and a better life. The government’s commitment has been, and continues to be, to provide affordable and quality housing to the masses,” said Mr Teo.
He added that HDB has moved from providing low-cost rental housing to building homes for ownership and along the way it has also picked up several international accolades.
This year in Punggol alone, HDB launched 3,300 new flats through its Build-to-Order programme and will launch another project with 1,000 new flats in the next few days.
HDB said its demand remains strong. It is on track to complete 35,000 flats in Punggol by end 2015.
Treelodge@Punggol is Singapore’s first eco-precinct, where green technology was incorporated into its planning design.
Features include maximising the amount of natural light and ventilation, while harnessing the power of the sun for part of residents’ electricity requirements.
Apart from the HDB, other agencies such as the National Environment Agency, PUB and even the Economic Development Board were also roped in to develop the project.
And Mr Teo used this to illustrate the whole-of-government approach outlined in the recently-released Public Sector Outcomes Review report.
The approach itself is not new, Mr Teo said, but the report signalled a bigger effort in that direction.
And by publishing the report once every two years, he said it will give the public a sense of how the government is doing, while motivating the ministries and agencies to do better.
