Good morning Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen.

It is my pleasure to deliver the opening address for the inaugural Asia-Pacific Housing Forum. I would first like to warmly welcome to Singapore, Assistant Secretary Dr Williams and representatives from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, and other distinguished delegates from overseas.

2. Housing is a basic need. Everyone needs a roof over their heads. However, housing issues and solutions can differ significantly from country to country as they are heavily influenced by each country’s socio-economic and cultural context. We have to find the approach that best suits our own needs. This forum is a useful opportunity to share diverse perspectives and experiences on the issue of housing.

3. According to a recent UN report, close to half the world’s population are already living in cities and towns and it is projected to increase further.¹ The rapid increase in urban population puts tremendous stress on governments around the world to provide adequate housing, amidst various other demands. In many ways, Singapore’s challenge in housing a fast-growing population in a small city-state is similar to that faced by many big cities around the world. This morning, I would like to share with you Singapore’s experience in public housing. I hope that it will provide some food for thought as you discuss this issue over the next few days.

Singapore’s Experience

4. One of the first things visitors to Singapore notice is that blocks of public housing flats (apartments) span almost very corner of the island. Over 80% of the population lives in public housing today. It was not always like this. Like many developing countries, housing was in a dismal state when Singapore attained self-government in 1959. There was an acute shortage of proper housing, and the majority of our people lived in crowded squatter colonies that lacked sanitation.

5. To solve the housing crisis, the Government set up the Housing & Development Board (HDB) in 1960. HDB embarked on the large-scale development of public housing to provide a roof over the head for our people, with 50,000 public housing units built in its first five years (or “HDB flats” as they are commonly known). Within 10 years, the housing shortage problem was largely resolved.

Key Learning Points
6. What are the lessons we can draw from implementing Singapore’s public housing programme over almost five decades? There are five key learning points that I would like to share with you this morning.

Importance of Home Ownership

7. The first point is the importance of home ownership. From the start, Singapore focused on home ownership for the masses as a key government policy. We felt that this was the right approach given the importance of encouraging rootedness and stakeholdership amongst our predominantly immigrant population. Home ownership is also important as the HDB flat allows citizens to share in the growth of the economy through the appreciation of property values, and serves as a hedge against inflation.

8. To support our home ownership policy, generous subsidies are given to citizen families to help them buy their first HDB flat and settle down. Additional housing subsidies are provided to the low income, as well as those upgrading to bigger flats. A first time flat-buyer may receive housing grants up to 40% of the price of a flat. In a nutshell, through housing grants and subsidized mortgage loans, the Government helps citizens to purchase a flat for which they would be motivated to work hard to finance the mortgage payment, or even upgrade to a bigger flat over time. Over the years, this has developed into an implicit social contract that has laid a firm foundation for Singapore’s economic, social and political stability.

9. Today, 95% of HDB residents own their flats, and the national home ownership rate of about 91% is amongst the highest in the world.

Comprehensive town planning and design

10. The second point is the importance of comprehensive town planning and design. Through careful land use planning, Singapore has been able to maintain a high quality living environment for our people, whilst accommodating a rising population. Similar to land use planning at the national level, HDB towns are also planned and developed as self-contained towns, each with their own amenities such as transport network, schools, food & beverage outlets, shops, parks, and places of worship. This allows our residents to enjoy a high quality of living with convenient access to amenities.

Continuous renewal and rejuvenation of towns

11. The third point is the importance of rejuvenation and renewal. This has become more important with the ageing of public housing estates built in the early years. To ensure that the older towns do not degenerate into slums, we have put in place various programmes to renew and rejuvenate the physical environment, and bring them up to the standards of new estates. New facilities like playgrounds, parks and fitness corners are also introduced under precinct upgrading programmes to enhance the socio-communal infrastructure.

12. By introducing meaningful improvements to the physical environment to meet the lifestyle needs of residents, this not only dampens the outflow of existing residents, but also encourages the inflow of younger residents into older areas. The continued upgrading of older areas also helps to preserve the value of older HDB flats so that they remain a good store of value over time. This is important because the HDB flat may be the largest single investment for many Singaporeans.

13. In some cases, enbloc redevelopment is implemented where old HDB blocks are cleared to make way for newer developments. The residents are adequately compensated and offered new replacement flats nearby so that they can retain their community ties with the area.

Building Communities

14. This brings me to the fourth point. We have learnt the importance for housing policy to extend beyond the hardware aspects, such that it supports the building of cohesive communities of residents.

15. At the physical level, public housing projects in Singapore often provide socio-communal spaces such as “void decks”, playgrounds, and pavilions to allow neighbours to come together to interact as a community.

16. At the social level, our public housing policies are pro-family and foster family ties. Families are encouraged to live with or close to one another through the disbursement of additional subsidies, or given priority in the flat-buying queue. The Government also administers a system of quotas to ensure that the major ethnic groups are well represented in every HDB block and neighbourhood, so as to prevent the formation of ethnic enclaves.

17. With the vast majority of our citizens living in public housing, this common experience of living in an HDB housing estate (what we dub as the “HDB experience”) has become a source of bonding among our people and has contributed to the building of the Singaporean identity. This has helped foster social stability and cohesion, which have been critical to Singapore’s economic development.

Responsive to new challenges

18. Lastly, it is important to be responsive to new challenges. While Singapore has overcome the basic problem of housing its people, our housing policies are regularly updated to meet the changing socio-economic context.

19. For example, with economic progress, successive generations of Singaporeans now have higher expectations of public housing and can afford better homes. To meet the changing demand for public housing, HDB first started building bigger flats in the 1980s and then offered Premium flats with better quality finishes. In recent years, HDB has also outsourced the design of the public housing to the private sector to offer more choice to flat buyers. A new programme called the Design, Build & Sell Scheme was initiated in 2005, where private developers are invited to develop, price and sell public housing.

20. Like many other countries facing the forces of globalisation, Singapore has witnessed a widening income gap over the years. In response, our housing subsidy framework has been adjusted in recent years to provide more targeted subsidies to lower income households to help them to level up and buy a home ownership flat.

21. In addition, Singapore has an ageing population. From one in twelve Singaporeans that are over 65 years old today, the ratio of elderly is going to increase to one in five by 2030.

22. To help meet the physical needs of the elderly, we have embarked on a campaign to provide Barrier Free Access in all public housing estates by 2011, and upgrade the vast majority of HDB blocks to have lift access on every floor by 2014. New HDB flats are also being developed with the concept of Universal Design (UD), which provides simple but effective elder-friendly features such as step-free interiors, as well as wider doorways and corridors to cater to wheelchair access.

23. We are also putting in place an expanded array of housing options to help our elderly to monetize their HDB flats to supplement retirement expenses. For example, HDB started offering Studio Apartments equipped with elder-friendly features in 1998. These are essentially smaller public housing units sold on a shorter lease, to allow elderly flat owners to sell off their existing flats and unlock part of the value for their retirement. We have also relaxed subletting rules for public housing flats, and are introducing a partial lease buyback scheme to enable the elderly to effectively “age in place” (i.e. continue to live amidst familiar surroundings), whilst monetizing their part of their lease.

Conclusion

24. In conclusion, Singapore’s massive public housing programme has transformed this young country of ours, both physically and socially. We see it as an important and necessary investment, not a cost. Besides providing basic shelter, our public housing has played a critical role in providing stakeholdership in the country for its citizens, building more cohesive communities and strengthening the social security system. In fact, it would not be an exaggeration to say that public housing has provided the foundation for the economic growth and social stability of Singapore.

25. I hope that by sharing Singapore’s experience in public housing this morning, I have provided you with some useful ideas and perspective on housing planning and policies. I look forward to further discussion with you during our ensuing roundtable discussion on “Housing Challenges of the 21st Century”.

26. Thank you.

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