Rochor Centre to be demolished soon

Posted on 31 Mar 2016 | Comments Off on Rochor Centre to be demolished soon

The four brightly coloured housing blocks will be demolished to make way for a new expressway. 

Rochor Centre, a public housing estate in the Bugis area dating back to the 1970s, will be demolished by the end of this year to make way for the new North-South Expressway, reported The Straits Times.

Built in 1977, it consists of four brightly coloured HDB blocks that originally housed 183 shops and 567 households. But due to its imminent redevelopment, 106 shops have closed while 36 households have relocated as of January 2016.

However, many long-time residents are saddened about having to move out of Rochor Centre.

Victor Devan, 70, an Indian who speaks English, Teochew, Hokkien and Cantonese, calls it a heartland in Singapore. “It reminds me of the kampong that I grew up in when I was little.”

Moving to another home is painful as they have developed great relationships with their neighbours, added Devan, who is affectionately called ‘orh hia’ (black brother) by neighbours and shopkeepers in the estate.

According to Denise Phua, Member of Parliament for Jalan Besar GRC, which includes Bugis, life will not be the same for the residents, but they can look forward to more greenery and a tranquil environment compared to that in busy Rochor.

The Housing Board revealed that 91 percent of the residents in Rochor Centre will move to HDB flats at nearby Kallang Trivista. Of this, 15 percent opted to relocate to units close to their relatives or former neighbours in Rochor Centre.

Rochor Centre is one of three historic public housing estates that will soon be torn down for redevelopment. The others are Dakota Crescent and four low-rise HDB blocks in Siglap, that were built in 1958 and 1964, respectively.

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Govt may still relax property curbs this year

Posted on 31 Mar 2016 | Comments Off on Govt may still relax property curbs this year

Consultants believe the government will tweak the measures if condo prices drop significantly.

Experts still believe the government may ease its property cooling measures later this year or in early 2017, despite the lack of goodies announced for the property sector in Budget 2016, and the higher foreign worker levies in the construction sector, reported Singapore Business Review.

“We expect the government to continue monitoring the residential market, and relaxation is likely only nearer end-2016,” said RHB Research in a report.

The consultancy thinks authorities will likely tweak the property curbs if home prices drop by 12 to 15 percent from its peak.

The government may also review the measures if developers can no longer bear the extension fees that they must pay for failing to dispose residential units within a stipulated period under the Qualifying Certificate (QC) and Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) rules.

Meanwhile, Maybank Kim Eng reckons the reason why the cooling measures are still in place is because home prices remain too high. It also shows that authorities are satisfied with the low number of non-performing housing loans and high leverage mortgages.

“Further downside should be expected before any lifting is made. This is in line with our view that there is not enough pain in the market yet and cooling measures may only be reviewed in early-2017.”

But if Singapore’s economy takes a turn for the worse and drags down home prices, the government may prioritize lifting the curbs, added Maybank Kim Eng.

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