Singapore Committed to Keep Public Housing Affordable

Minister for National Development Desmond Lee has introduced a Ministerial Motion to Parliament, urging members to support the government’s commitment to preserving public housing affordability and accessibility while safeguarding the interests of current and future generations of Singaporeans.

Senior Minister of State for National Development Sim Ann made the 30 January announcement on her Facebook page. Despite being the minister who filed the motion, Mr. Lee has said nothing about it on any of his social media accounts.

Ms. Sim pointed out that the motion sounded similar to one submitted by Progress Singapore Party (PSP) NCMPs Hazel Poa and Leong Mun Wai, but that they are different.

“The PSP’s motion implies that the government has not done enough to provide low-cost and easily accessible HDB flats, to reinforce the owner-occupation goal of public housing, to safeguard retirement adequacy, or to maintain public housing’s commitment to diversity and inclusion. The assertion is false, and we reject it. composed Ms. Sim.

This suggests that the two motions will be heard at the same time, as happened in September of last year when Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong submitted a rival motion to Mr. Leong’s petition on Singapore’s free trade arrangements and its foreign labor regulations.

The Government of Singapore is committed to preserving the availability and affordability of public housing while safeguarding the interests of current and future generations of Singaporeans. During the discussion, we will restate this pledge to the people of Singapore and the members of the House. We think it would be more productive to have a separate motion detailing the government’s plan of attack and then discuss the two measures together.

Last but not least, Ms. Sim said, “My workmates and I look forward to meaningful discussion, establishing out the Government’s strategy towards public housing, disproving baseless allegations, and hearing constructive views and suggestions on how we can continue to accomplish the homeownership dreams and ambitions of our residents.”

Before the next Singapore Parliament session in February, Mr. Leong revealed on 20 January that he has submitted a motion to discuss concerns related to affordable public housing.

The full text of Mr. Leong’s proposal is as follows:

That this House urges the Government to reevaluate its housing policies to I ensure that all Singaporeans have access to affordable and accessible HDB flats, (ii) enhance the owner-occupation intent of public housing, (iii) safeguard retirement adequacy, and (iv) maintain public housing’s inclusiveness to all Singaporeans across all generations.

Mr. Leong has called on the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) to listen to critics and reveal the truth about the state of public housing in Singapore.

He adds that he hopes PAP lawmakers would discuss the problems seriously, without trying to “misrepresent my ideas or cast aspersions on my intentions.”

Concerns over VERS and a plan to free public housing from the burden of land price
Many Singaporeans are worried about being able to pay the escalating cost of HDB BTO rates and resale HDB apartments.

Many have questioned the Government’s concept of affordability and the long-term viability of the public housing program that has worked over the previous couple of decades, despite its repeated assurances to residents that public housing remains inexpensive.

Mr. Leong expressed grave concerns regarding the Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme (SERS) at Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3 in an adjournment motion last month, calling into doubt the sustainability of the Voluntary Early Redevelopment Scheme (VERS) to address the problem of aging HDB apartments.

Singaporeans need clarification on the lease decay problem as soon as possible, and the NCMP has raised grave worries about the ramifications for all Singaporeans beyond the affected tenants and how it would affect the future of their aging Housing units.

He also says the government is being quiet about VERS’s lack of sustainability by covering up the disparate results of the Ang Mo Kio SERS and the citizens’ dire financial situation.

Since the lease decay issue has serious implications on the financial well-being and retirement options of Singaporeans, particularly those who purchased older flats in mature estates before the issue was brought to light, “the right thing to do is to clarify to Singaporeans whether it would be devising a new compensation formula for VERS or proposing some other solutions for the lease decay problem.”

Mr. Leong has also stated his opinion that HDB flat prices should not include land costs but instead just reflect building expenses and price disparities across regions.

According to some, this was the situation in the 1980s, when the cost of land made up a smaller percentage of the overall cost of a HDB apartment. Mr. Leong wrote.

Mr. Leong, on the other hand, noted that the most recent HDB data reveals that land expenses account for roughly 60% of the entire cost of creating HDB apartments.

Monday night, in response to Mr. Lee’s motion and Ms. Sim’s Facebook post, Mr. Leong wrote a post of his own.

As he put it in writing, “The Government disagrees that it has not done enough to create cheap and accessible HDB apartments. But if this were the case, the cost of housing in Singapore would not be a major concern for the majority of its citizens, and lawmakers wouldn’t need to devote so much time to discussing the topic, which has sparked widespread interest in the country. What has been done to maintain the low cost of public housing in Singapore will be evaluated by the people of that country.

Sparks are anticipated to flare during the impending dual motions discussion during the February legislative sitting, as the NCMP had previously been rebutted by Mr. Lee and Ms. Sim over the arguments regarding public housing in Parliament.