Good morning, ladies and gentlemen,

Overview of Public Housing

1. Public housing in Singapore has come a long way since HDB’s inception in 1960. Over the past forty-five years, HDB has provided for the housing needs of two generations of Singaporeans. Today, close to 84% of our population are housed in 880,000 HDB flats across the island.

2. There is, however, more to public housing than just numbers. As you may know, HDB’s vision for public housing in Singapore is not only to create “Affordable Homes”, but also “Vibrant Towns and Cohesive Communities”. Public housing in Singapore is therefore also about creating quality living environments to meet the changing needs, aspirations and lifestyles of Singaporeans. HDB now provides an array of flats with good designs and quality finishes that can meet the needs and aspirations of our people. Every HDB town is comprehensively planned to be self-sufficient, and provided with a wide range of amenities, convenient access to public transport, and common spaces for the community to interact and bond. The aim is to create living environments conducive to the formation of vibrant towns and cohesive communities.

An Inclusive “HDB Experience”

3. It is this idea of cohesive communities that is integral to what I call the “HDB Experience”. The HDB living environment provides the settings for interactions among Singaporeans of all races, religions, ages and socio-economic status. This experience serves as a common point of emotional reference that bonds all Singaporeans and roots them to the country.

4. Indeed, this “HDB Experience” is an important cornerstone of PM’s vision of “Singapore as a Vibrant Global City called Home”. It is in the HDB towns that most Singaporeans live, work, play and call their home. The HDB experience must therefore remain an inclusive experience, accessible to all, so that all Singaporeans are able to contribute and share in our common future.

5. Going forward, HDB housing will remain affordable for the majority of Singaporeans. Flats bought direct from the HDB will continue to be reasonably priced. Young couples wanting to set up home and start a family will continue to be subsidized for their purchase of public housing, while those seeking to upgrade from smaller flats will have the opportunity to fulfil their aspirations. The elderly will have several options, including Studio Apartments, and for the very low-income, rental flats at heavily subsidized rates. These fundamentals of public housing policy have played an important role in promoting rootedness in Singapore in the past. They will continue to play an important role as we strive towards the next phase of our nation-building efforts.

Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS)

6. The private sector can also contribute in enriching the “HDB Experience”. Hence, we have over the years provided more opportunities for the private sector to participate in the provision of public housing. We introduced the Design and Build (D&B) Scheme in 1991. Under this scheme, private firms tendered to provide architectural design, project management and construction services for HDB projects as a package. The HDB remained the developer of these D&B projects, oversaw their progress, and administered the sale and allocation of the flats. It was a successful partnership. It opened up fresh new perspectives and provided more housing choices to HDB flat buyers. We will continue to build flats under the D&B scheme. The Pinnacle@Duxton, which is designed by a local architecture firm shortlisted through a design competition, is another good example of a successful HDB partnership with the private sector. It will be ready for occupation by 2009.

DBSS Concept

7. Through the Design, Build, and Sell Scheme, or DBSS, we will take this one step further and deepen our partnership with the private sector in public housing development. Under this scheme, the private sector will undertake the full range of the public housing development chain – from bidding for the land, to designing the project, overseeing construction, and finally, selling the flats directly to eligible flat buyers.

8. As flats built under the DBSS scheme are part of our public housing, they will be subject to HDB rules and conditions. The usual eligibility criteria will apply, i.e. only Singaporeans who qualify for subsidized housing will be allowed to buy DBSS flats. These criteria include the standard household income ceiling of $8,000, and family nucleus requirement among others.

9. To ensure that flats under the DBSS programme remain affordable to the majority of Singaporeans, eligible 1st-timer households will be offered a $30,000 or $40,000 CPF housing grant, similar to the grant for 1st-timers buying HDB resale flats. Those eligible can also obtain an HDB concessionary loan to finance their flat purchase. Second-timers can also buy DBSS flats without having to pay the resale levy, since they will be paying market price for the flats.

10. We have chosen a site along Tampines Avenue 6 for the pilot project. Tampines is a vibrant and established town. I am confident that the location, close to the Regional Centre, the MRT and bus interchange and sports and social amenities, will be attractive to prospective buyers. Parliament has recently approved amendments to the Housing and Development Act that will provide the legislative framework for the scheme. We are on track to launch the pilot project later this year.

Flexibility for Developers under the Pilot Project

11. As this is the first time the private sector is participating in the full developmental chain of public housing, HDB has held extensive consultations with various parties, such as REDAS and the Association of Banks in Singapore, to obtain their feedback on the scheme. For the scheme to successfully meet its objectives, we should give developers as much flexibility as possible to design and implement their projects, so long as it does not compromise the objectives and fundamentals of public housing. Only in this way can we can fully harness the ideas and inputs of the private sector in public housing.

12. For this reason, HDB will allow the successful tenderer for the pilot site maximum flexibility in the design of the project, so long as the public housing characteristics of the project is maintained. For example, the successful tenderer will have to ensure that the project is well-integrated with adjacent HDB developments, and there is good connectivity between the project and the neighbourhood. In keeping with the open nature of HDB housing, the project should not be fenced off from the rest of the neighbourhood. More importantly, the project must meet HDB’s quality standards and technical specifications regarding safety, durability and maintainability, to ensure that DBSS flats will be of high quality and good workmanship.

13. The successful tenderer will have a free hand in the design and layout of DBSS flats, and the mix of flats they wish to build. Under the DBSS, developers can price their flats based on what they assess the market is prepared to accept. To give the successful tenderer for the pilot site maximum flexibility in determining the flat mix and pricing of the flats, we will set a monthly income ceiling of $8,000 for all flat types. This is notwithstanding that the income ceiling for 3-room flats in other HDB developments is $3,000.

14. One of the feedback from developers is the lack of familiarity with the public housing market. To assist tenderers to better gauge the response to the scheme, HDB will provide them with relevant public housing market data. These will include the demand and supply trends in the HDB resale market, the number of bookings received for new HDB flats, together with other relevant statistics.

15. Currently, HDB grants priority to various groups of applicants under its Build-to-Order (BTO) and Balloting Exercises for sale of new flats. These include 1st-timers, and those eligible for the Married Child Priority Scheme and the Third Child Priority Scheme. These schemes are in place to meet specific social objectives, such as to promote mutual care and support between married children and their parents, and to better meet the housing needs of 1st-timers, who have more urgent housing needs. For DBSS projects, we will require developers to give priority to these groups, so that we can still meet these objectives. However, we will give the successful tenderer flexibility in operationalising the different schemes. To avoid hindering the sale of the DBSS flats by the successful tenderer, we will lift these priority quotas a month after the project launch.

16. The successful tenderer will also be given the flexibility to decide on the payment modalities for the DBSS. HDB will release more details nearer the date of the tender of the pilot site.

The Way Ahead

17. The DBSS scheme is a good opportunity for private developers to contribute and add value to our public housing programme. Through the increased involvement of the private sector, we hope to accomplish three things. Firstly, we hope to provide additional variety and choice for HDB flat buyers. Secondly, we hope to make public housing more responsive to the needs and aspirations of Singaporeans. And thirdly, we hope to introduce market competition and bring about better value for money for HDB flat buyers.

18. The pilot project at Tampines will allow us to assess the key features of the DBSS, and fine-tune them if necessary, based on the feedback of developers and flat buyers. If the pilot project proves to be a success, we can look forward to more public housing offerings under the DBSS in future.

Inaugural HDB Awards Presentation and Public Housing Seminar

19. HDB is launching its Public Housing Design Guide today, with the aim of sharing with private sector developers and consultants, best practices in public housing design and maintainability. The guide is meant to serve as a reference on the principles and practices of public housing design. Given our intention to open up the public housing market gradually, and outsource an increasing number of projects via the DBSS and D&B schemes, such a guide is timely. Private sector players, especially those participating in public housing projects for the first time, should find this guide particularly useful.

20. Some of you here today are already familiar with the workings behind public housing, having partnered with HDB in previous projects. HDB will be recognizing your efforts as business partners in public housing development with two special awards – the HDB Design Award and the HDB Quality Award. I would like to congratulate and thank all the architects, builders, suppliers and service providers for your commitment and dedication, in helping us to provide world-class, quality public housing for Singaporeans.

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