In an adjournment motion on “Ensuring Housing Needs of Singles and Singaporeans are Met” in Parliament, Workers’ Party Member of Parliament Louis Chua (Sengkang GRC) proposed lowering the eligibility age for applying for a new Housing Board (HDB) flat, which is currently 35, to 28.
He said that by 28, most people in Singapore would have had opportunities to “lead independent lives and steady their financial footing”.
Mr Chua underlined, however, that the more important issue at hand is ensuring that Singapore’s housing supply is sufficient.
“I would like to implore the Government to take urgent and decisive steps to increase the availability of public housing and address the current demand-supply imbalance, to ensure that the housing demand of all Singaporeans, not just singles, can be met,” Mr Chua, an equity research analyst in a financial institution that covers the real estate industry, said.
As for lowering the eligibility age for applying for a BTO to 28, he called this “a critical change” that is also a continuation of the Government’s efforts to expand HDB options for singles, even while HDB also continues to give priorities to families.
“In fact, we believe lowering the threshold for owning HDB flats to 28 years would go a long way towards HDB’s stated aims for Singapore’s public housing to be ‘inclusive’ and to ‘reflect the diversity of our society,” he added.
The Sengkang MP cited the record highs BTO flat application rates have reached in the last few years and admitted that the WP proposal to lower the eligibility age would increase the demand.
But “it does not detract from the fact that there appear to be serious imbalances in the housing market,” Mr Chua added.
He added that even if there are Singaporeans who are still single by 35 and may want to have their own place, many are not able to afford this.
“Should we not look into further enabling single Singaporeans to meet their housing needs and aspirations?” he added, also noting that a single person who succeeds in their application for a BTO flat at 28 may already be 35 years old by the time their flat is ready to be moved into, given the waiting time.
Senior Minister of State for National Development Tan Kiat How responded to Mr Chua’s proposals, saying that some of the feedback that the MND and HDB have received in the process of conducting the recent Long-Term Planning Review were similar to the points the WP MP had raised.
“We would want to meet the needs of all Singaporeans… their aspirations and their wants if we can. But we have limited land and resources and would have to prioritise and allocate within these constraints,” he added.
He noted that the supply of HDB flats has been ramped up and that the MND is watching over the situation to determine if other measures are necessary.
Mr Tan also said, ”I would like to assure Singaporeans that even as we engage all of you as part of the Forward Singapore exercise, we have already taken steps to address the concerns raised by various demographic groups and various segments of Singaporeans.” /TISG