10 fun facts about Singapore’s housing this National Day

Happy National Day Singapore! Before the 21-gun salute goes off and the spectacular fireworks light up the skyline, here are some amazing things you may not know about Singapore’s housing landscape.

1. Singapore has the third highest population density in the world

According to World Bank’s estimates in 2021, there are an estimated 7,692 people per square kilometre in Singapore, which, uh, really explains the low crime rate.

Only Macau and Monaco beat us, at number one (with 20,012 people per sq km) and two (with 19,497 people per sq km), respectively. As if this is a competition we really want to win.

Jokes aside, the high population density is one reason why land costs and property prices are so expensive here.

2. We have one of the highest home ownership rates in the world

One of the things Singapore prides on is that it has one of the highest rates of home ownership in the world. As of 2021, 88.9% of resident households here own their own homes.

In comparison, the country with the highest home ownership rate is Romania at 96%.

3. The void deck is our most underrated architectural achievement

The void decks in HDB flats are a uniquely Singaporean innovation. Apart from providing room for communal activities, they serve a vital but often unnoticed purpose.

If not for those void decks, you couldn’t walk through the blocks. You’d have to walk around them. Think for a moment how inconvenient that would be.

4. Back in the 1960s, public housing was intended for only the poorest Singaporeans

Way back in the ‘60s, public housing wasn’t meant for most of the country. It was a social support scheme for low income Singaporeans only.

Today, 78.3% of Singapore residents live in public housing, and it’s no longer just for the poor (just look at the number of million-dollar HDB flat transactions we have every month).

With HDB’s aim of providing Singaporeans with affordable homes, there’s a wide range of HDB housing types for different income groups, from BTO, resale flats to ECs.

5. Only millennial flats have a letter

You can identify which flats in Singapore were built at the turn of the millennium. If a flat has a letter, such as 37B instead of just numbers, it was almost certainly built after the year 2000 (with some rare exceptions). Multi-storey carparks, however, only have three numbers.

6. Singapore mortgages have no perpetual fixed rates

Singapore is one of the few countries where banks don’t have perpetual fixed interest rates for mortgages. Even our fixed rate mortgages only last for a certain number of years (from one to five), before they revert to a floating rate.

HDB concessionary loans are different. The interest rate is always 0.1% above the prevailing CPF Ordinary Account rate, which is reviewed quarterly (but it hasn’t changed in a very long time). With the CPF OA rate at 2.5%, the HDB loan rate is currently at 2.6%.

7. Pearl Bank Apartments was the tallest apartment building in South East Asia when it was completed in 1976

This was the apartment block that’s built like an almost enclosed circle, near Pearls Centre in the Outram area. It was a great architectural achievement in its day, much like Freddie Mercury’s hair. There was no taller residential building in South East Asia at the time, and its unique, semi-circular construction has never been duplicated in Singapore.

However, as the years passed, the building started deteriorating, with its lifts breaking down and pipes leaking. This led to a few en bloc attempts and calls for conservation.

The building was eventually sold to CapitaLand in a collective sale, and has since been demolished to make way for One Pearl Bank.

8. The dragon playground at Toa Payoh is an icon even in other parts of the world

The iconic Dragon playground is a noted architectural feature, that it’s named one of the most amazing playgrounds around the world.

Designed by interior architect Khor Ean Ghee in 1979, these playgrounds have unexpectedly become cultural mementos. They were phased out in 1993 for safety reasons, and the one in Toa Payoh Lorong 6 narrowly escaped demolition.

9. Tiong Bahru Block 78 has three different street addresses

Block 78 in Tiong Bahru is at:
– 78 Moh Guan Terrace.

– 78 Yong Siak Street.

– 78 Guan Chuan Street.
It’s also a McDelivery guy’s worst nightmare. Due to its odd placement and horseshoe-shaped design, it is the only building in Singapore that has three street addresses.

10. The only HDB estate with a non-crazy numbering system is Toa Payoh

Toa Payoh, which became a new town in 1965, is the only new town where the blocks are sensibly numbered from 1 to 235. From the 1970s onward, HDB used the three-number system where the first number designates the neighbourhood, and the remaining two designate the block.

(From 2000 onwards they add a letter, see point 5).

With that, we wish our readers and leaders (we hope some of you read this blog) a very Happy National Day!

[Additional reporting by Virginia Tanggono]

Any interesting facts about Singapore we missed out? Let us know in the comments below.

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