The Singapore government is planning to make homes affordable for every household – and that could mean opening up the apartment market to singles and prioritising homes for couples with children.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has ordered a review to consider if singles should buy new apartments from the state-controlled Housing and Development Board (HDB).
The law in Singapore only lets over 35s and singles buy resale flats.
“It is something on the minds of many Singaporeans, because the singles numbers have gone up,” said Lee.
“I fully understand these concerns. I should say the Ministry of National Development also fully understands the concerns and National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan is looking actively at the matter.
Housing priority for couples with children
“I am confident nearly every Singaporean household can afford their own home. We have done it before and we can do it again.”
In his speech, Lee also encouraged Singaporeans to boost the country’s birth rate and revealed plans to offer couples with children priority over others when booking HDB flats.
“I think that we should give some consideration to giving couples with young kids priority when they book HDB flats,” he said.
“Firstly it will solve their problem faster. Secondly, it may encourage them to have a kid so that the flat will come faster.”
In other countries, people get married, have children and save up to buy a house, whereas “in Singapore, it’s the other way round. House first. Then you think about marriage. Then you think about kids”, he said.
Finally, he is keen to look at measures to reduce the country’s waiting list for HDB homes.
Home sales surge by 42%
Meanwhile, the latest official housing statistics from Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) show sales, excluding executive condos, surged 42% in July, compared with June.
Including executive condos, the URA disclosed 2,067 new homes were sold in July.
Private home sales in July for Singapore’s core central region leapt by around 80% to 253 homes for the month.
“All segments have seen a jump in sales,” said Tejaswi Chunduri, regional analyst at Singapore property portal PropertyGuru.
“This reinforces the fact that location is the most important factor when considering property investment. This also indicates a return in developer investor confidence as investors are on the lookout for strategically located projects.”
The URA has advertised new residential sites for sale to developers for building another 1,600 homes.
