Enough mudslinging, it’s time to put the focus back onto policies and issues that affect Singaporean livelihoods for what’s left of GE 2020. Casting the spotlight on housing, we looked through every political party’s manifesto to pick out the proposals related to housing. Here they are*:
*wherever possible, the exact wordings are used without amendment.
People’s Action Party (PAP)
The PAP manifesto contained just one direct reference to housing: “Enhanced housing grants – for purchase of HDB flats”.
As the ruling party, the PAP government has done quite a bit in terms of housing and the property market over their last term, such as increasing the income ceilings for BTO flats (from $12,000 to $14,000), ECs ($14,000 to $16,000) and Family Grant ($12,000 and $14,000).
The Enhanced Housing Grant (EHG) was also introduced from the September 2019 BTO sales exercise onwards. Check out this article for a more detailed explanation of the EHG, which applies to both resale and new flat purchases.
The government also did the following in the past five years:
- Allowed more flat buyers to be eligible for the Proximity Housing Grant (PHG) by setting a wider 4km radius criteria (previously 2km or within the same town)
- Made EHG for BTO flats applicable to all flat types, as opposed to SHG, which was limited to 4-room or smaller BTO flats in non-mature estates
- With the introduction of EHG, raised the maximum possible grant amount for buying a resale flat from $120,000 (AHG + PHG + Family Grant) to $160,000 (EHG + PHG + Family Grant)
- Introduced Deferred Income Assessement to allow non-income earning students in full-time tertiary education and National Service to apply for a BTO flat
- Allowed single unwed parents aged 21 and above to purchase up to a three-room flat in a non-mature estate
- Brought ahead the construction of selected BTO projects to shorten the waiting time for flats
- Announced that it will integrate sold flats and rental flats in the same block for certain BTO projects
- Scrapped Re-offer of Balance Flats for an Open Booking system
For private property, the government introduced additional cooling measures in July 2018 to stop the runaway increase of property prices. During Covid-19, it took steps to safeguard homeowners by working with banks to allow the deferment of home loan repayments up until the end of 2020.
Recommended article: Quick Guide to BTO and Resale HDB Grants for Couples [2020 Edition]
Worker’s Party (WP)
The WP manifesto proposes the following for housing:
- Rent for HDB rental flats should be forgiven until all forms of lockdown restrictions are lifted, as rental flat residents are screened to be of low income. This would protect our society’s most vulnerable members and stimulate the domestic economy, while having minimal fiscal impact.
- For single parents, equalisation of state benefits and housing options.
- For singles, lowering the age at which they can apply for a 2-room BTO flat should be lowered from 35 to 28, delinking our housing policy from the expectation that Singaporeans should
get married before a particular age (35 in this case). - For BTO selling prices, prices for BTO flats in non-mature estates should be pegged to household incomes. Prices should be based on a 20-year mortgage, 10% down-payment, and monthly repayments of a maximum of 25% of the median monthly household income. In addition, a discount should be offered to lower income applicants of 2-room and 3-room flats to achieve debt servicing ratios of 10% and 20% respectively.
- HDB should also give each buyer the breakdown of land sale costs, developmental costs and subsidies for them to better understand the price of their flats.
- To tackle lease decay, a universal buy-back scheme should be offered to all HDB lessees to back-stop resale prices to a certain degree. The buy-back formula should be devised to be fair to the buyer and the state. Some of the acquired flats could then be rented out to Singaporeans at rates in between commercial and HDB public assistance rentals. This would provide more housing options for Singaporeans who do not wish to own a flat lease at certain points in their lives.
- For orderly urban renewal, the government should consider launching more SERS exercises and providing a SERS scheme that does not require a proxy relocation site, using instead BTO and balance flats for relocation.
- Remove ethnic quotas for HDB resale flats to address the disadvantage faced by ethnic minority HDB flat resellers, many of whom have had to sell their flats at discounted prices.
On the issue of abolishing ethnic quotas under the Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP), WP argued that abolishing the quotas will not cause racial disharmony amongst Singaporeans.
“After more than 50 years of nation-building, our society has evolved and achieved multi-racial integration that has gone beyond the need for mandating proportionally mixed neighbourhoods,” says WP in its manifesto.
Singapore Democratic Party (SDP)
The SDP advocates the following for housing:
- Introduction of non-open market HDB flats that do not include land costs in their pricing. Flats bought under this scheme will not be allowed to be resold in the open market, and can only be sold back to HDB. Only Singaporeans will be eligible for such flats.
- Implementing the Young Families Priority Scheme (YFPS), a targeted priority scheme that grants balloting priority for first-timer families with children or couples who are expectant for balance flats or new BTO flats in non-mature estates.
- Increase the income ceiling for HDB public rental housing.
- Enabling single-parent families with children and singles to buy and own flats, hance making public housing more inclusive.
- Enhancing the lease buyback scheme to more effectively assist needy senior citizens to have a secure retirement.
- Abolishing the Ethnic Integration Policy
Progress Singapore Party (PSP)
The PSP manifesto proposes the following for housing for more affordable homes and to address lease decay:
- En-bloc redevelopment for all old flats.
- Peg new flat prices to median income levels.
- Bring down housing costs for young Singaporeans to free them for entrepreneurial pursuit.
Singapore People’s Party (SPP)
The SPP manifesto proposes the following for housing:
- Extending the lease buyback scheme: All HDB owners should be given the option to sell their leases back to the HDB at a price near to the market value after five years. SPP additionally describes this as a win-win; homeowners will take comfort in knowing they’ll be able to liquidate their remaining lease at a reasonable price, whethers HDB can increase its stock of flats and avail it to first-time buyers or renters.
- Extending SERS to all estates to make good on the promise of first generation of leaders that the HDB is an asset
- Abolishing ethnic quota: The ethnic quota has served its purpose and may be prohibitive to sellers from minority races looking to sell their HDB flats. Malay, Indian and Eurasian homeowners should not have the valies of their homes affected fur to the ethnic quota policies, the SPP argues.
Red Dot United (RDU)
RDU’s manifesto proposes the following for housing:
- Make En-bloc Redevelopment Programme Mandatory to ease Singaporeans’ concerns about lease decay and the value of their HDB flats.
- Allow Singles to buy bigger 3-room or smaller BTO and lower the minimum age under the Single Singapore Citizen Scheme (SSC) and the Joint Singles Scheme (JSS) progressively, so that Singles can eventually buy flats at age 30. This will ease the burden of Singles to be less dependent on their parents. It will also address the perceived inability of finding suitable housing which is a deterrent to early marriage.
- Establish greater transparency in the cost of building HDB flats with a breakdown of land cost and building cost in order to price HDB flats affordably in a sustainable manner. Price new flats at a multiples of median income and location factor. This will ensure affordability and as income levels of Singaporeans change through the years, government revenue from flat sales would also rise. Therefore, better aligning the interest of individual and state. This will also incentivise policy makers to grow the wage share of Singaporeans.
- Ensure that more flats are made available to young people in order to encourage early marriage and childbearing. This could be done through lowering the age Singles could buy HDBs (from 35 to 30) and ensuring there are sufficient sales-for-balance flats (SBF) which could be bought by young couples ready to marry and possibly start a family early.
National Solidarity Party (NSP)
The NSP manifesto proposes the following for housing:
- HDB shall resume its core responsibility i.e. provision of quality public housing for the masses at cost-plus prices.
- HDB shall release comprehensive detail of the costs (land, construction, development, administrative, etc) of each project on its website before launching it, to allow evaluation of its cost efficiency.
- More subsidised rental flats should be developed to reduce the waiting time for those citizens who are in dire needs. Such flats should be prohibited from being used to house foreign workers.
- HDB flats owned by PRs should be prohibited from resale within eight years’ of ownership, and any profit realised from the sale thereof should be subject to taxation to prevent speculative transaction. Such flats should also be prohibited from being leased out either wholly or in part.
People’s Power Party (PPP)
The PPP manifesto proposes the following for housing, specifically for Macpherson SMC—the only consituency which it is contesting:
[Note: Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA), People’s Voice and Reform Party did not outline any specific housing proposals in their manifestos.]
On 99.co, we’re now showing you which parties and candidates are running at the location of the property you’re viewing:
Which party’s manifestos for housing do you like the best? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
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Which policy of the current government is very stupid asking strangers to share a 1 room flat pap so smart for housing not really smart people the pap
The buy back schemes should ammend the age of 65 to above 60 if they cannot continue to serve the loan. Gov should pay the market value for their home.A.
There are far deeper issues that no party identified:
1. review apartment and room size because we are less dense than Hong Kong and more buildable land. Our room size should not get smaller. It is the smaller room trend that suggest higher housing value.
2. new spatial measure should address home base learning space requirements as an entitlement and a Singapore high living standard measure since we are the public housing leader.
3. new spatial measure should address work from home measures. we had upgrading for extra 2x2m room before, perhaps what we need is a attached work place room. this means instead of redeveloping newer smaller apartment, we should be adding to existing flats.
4. new urban measures to reduce transit process since work from home measures is a necessity. hdb blocks should be mixed used. hence void deck and walkway should be rethought altogether as mixed use space. by doing so, the mass rapid transit and busses will address loading from tourism better. since tourism in on the low, it is time to resolve this.
5. great places of invention usually comes from garage space. be it a computer, pop band, contraption, the inventor had utilize the garage to make a new product. tourism at the moment is an unfeasible product and to keep the economy working we need to begin to produce instead of comsune. Consumption cause our assets to leave the country.
6. much as these suggestion seem to involve massive demolition, perhaps we need to think deeply how to reuse the existing fabric and work the interior layout that can be adjusted in a 30 year span. which brings us to a national habit of 30 year planning. each house hold should focus and visualise how their home can do more for them in 30 years. with. this type of practice, Singapore have a better sense of purpose.