The government will “always keep public housing affordable for Singaporeans”, said Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Tuesday (Jan 21).
Speaking at a dialogue
session themed on the Singapore dream, he gave the assurance that new Build-to-Order (BTO) flats will continue to be priced in relation to income levels. Supply for both public and private housing is also being ramped up, which will help to stabilise the overall property market in due course.
Mr Wong, who is also finance minister, acknowledged the concerns about housing affordability that may come with reports on million-dollar HDB flats and when people compare the prices of their flats with that of their parents’ generation.
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But that is “one part of the equation” and needs to be seen in the context of rising incomes, he said at a dialogue organised by the government’s feedback unit Reach and student organisation Varsity Voices at the National University of
Singapore (NUS).
This is unlike those who bought their homes during the 1960s to 1980s. Even though flats were cheaper, people “had to fork out a lot more from their take-home pay” to pay off mortgages, leaving them with lesser disposable incomes, he said.
This is also a result of the Housing Board pricing BTO flats in relation to income levels to make sure that new flats remain within reach for a vast majority of Singaporeans.
“The assurance to all of you is that HDB will continue to price the new flats in relation to income, not in relation to the resale market … to make sure that (housing) remains affordable,” said Mr Wong.
Noting that prices in the HDB resale market have been rising due to supply disruptions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the government has been “building as much as (it) can”.
It is doing so not just for public housing but also by ramping up private housing supply through its government land sales programme as both markets are interlinked. But these supply moves will “take time”, he added.
“We are doing all we can on the property side. The new flats are affordable. We will continue to review to make sure they continue to stay affordable,” said Mr Wong.
“The supply that we are putting on to the market will eventually have an impact on stabilising the overall property market.”
Source: CNA
