WP Louis Chua is queried on his opposing positions on housing affordability
Recently, it emerged that WP MP Louis Chua’s professional position on public housing differs from his party position. The WP MP has consistently maintained his party’s position that public housing is unaffordable. Yet, in his capacity as a research analyst, he wrote that housing affordability remained healthy. In an exchange in Parliament on Wednesday (Apr […]
Is PSP Leong Mun Wai’s ‘buy now, pay later for land’ affordable housing scheme really cheap?
The PSP proposed an affordable housing scheme in which the buyer of a new BTO pays a ‘user price’ with land cost that is deferred. As long as the owner chooses to live in the flat, he does not have to pay for land cost. The upshot under PSP Leong Mun Wai’s housing proposal is […]
Fresh Start Housing Scheme: a home to call their own
After 8 years living in a rental flat, Madam Zaidah Ismail, 57, finally has a place to call her own – a flat with a flexi lease agreement. Life after her divorce was tough. Mdm Zaidah had to contend with breast cancer while putting in long hours as a security guard. She jumped at the […]
How about making resale HDB flats affordable by selling them at cash over historical cost instead of market price?
New BTOs have remained affordable. The outcry over the unaffordability of HDB flats is mostly over the resale prices. Say you bought a HDB flat in the early days for $50,000. Today, it is worth much more. What would you do if someone comes up to you and say that you should sell your flat […]
Leong Mun Wai’s latest adjournment motion is intended to seed ungrounded expectations of VERS
SMS Sim Ann hopes that PSP Leong Mun Wai will be more responsible in debates in Parliament. That’s a wishful hope. By now, we recognise that LMW is not interested in responsible debates, much less being factual and accurate. He uses the parliamentary immunity he enjoys to repeat misinformation as often as he likes. Seeding […]
The home ownership programme is the success story of Singapore, shared by all Singaporeans: Lee Kuan Yew
The site where the Pinnacle@Duxton stands was where HDB built the first rental blocks in Tanjong Pagar in 1963. At the key handover ceremony for the Pinnacle@Duxton on 13 December 2009, Mr Lee Kuan Yew said the transformation of Singapore’s landscape has been breath-taking. As Mr Lee recounted, in the 1960s, most Singaporeans lived in over-crowded shop […]
In what context did Mr Lee Kuan Yew say that the value of HDB flats would never drop?
It is important to understand the context in which Mr Lee Kuan Yew made that statement. Mr Lee Kuan Yew spoke at the Launch of Tanjong Pagar Town Council’s Five-Year Masterplan and Opening of ABC Waters at Alexandra Canal on 19 March 2011. He spoke to his residents in Tanjong Pagar, a very mature estate with many […]
Leong Mun Wai’s suggestion to remove land costs will leave homeowners bleeding
In a Facebook post, Leong Mun Wai concedes that BTOs are indeed subsidised. He also agrees that the pricing of BTOs should take into account locational factors. He wants prices to be lowered further, and to achieve this, he wants land costs to be disregarded. However, one cannot factor in locational factors while ignoring land […]
Is your BTO less affordable today? Let’s dive into the math for the answer.
If we compare the prices of HDB flats today with the prices of HDB flats built 20 or 30 years ago, of course prices have gone up. But so has income. The rise in the prices of HDB flats are in line with income growth. The question is: is the BTO less affordable today? Let’s dive […]
Good news! Interest rates might have gone up but HDB concessionary rate for home loans remains unchanged
Have you heard of the CPF floor interest rates? Floor rates are the legislated minimum interest rates guaranteed to our CPF monies. It ensures that interest earned by our money in our CPF accounts does not go below the floor rates. The floor rate for savings in the Ordinary Account is 2.5%. And for savings […]