Tag Archives: HDB News

ECs are built with condo facilities but have sale restrictions similar to those for public housing

THE $8,000 household income ceiling for public housing benefits will stay, despite growing calls for a review.

However, the Government will be offering more executive condominiums (ECs) to address the needs of middle-income buyers in the $8,000 to $10,000 monthly income bracket.

The moves were announced by National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan yesterday.

The initiative to offer more ECs will allow those earning between $8,000 and $10,000 a month to take advantage of government grants and buy a home suitable for their budget, he said.

ECs are built with condo facilities but have sale restrictions similar to those for public housing.

They were introduced in 1995 to bridge the gap between public housing and private apartments. First-time buyers whose incomes are under $10,000 can apply for a $30,000 grant.

‘We are going to put up more executive condominiums for sale. We will probably be launching some fairly soon,’ said Mr Mah. Continue reading →

HDB’s method of measuring the affordability of homes has come under public scrutiny recently

COMPARING the prices of public flats today with those of years ago is ‘not meaningful’, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said on Thursday.

Speaking on the growing public criticism over home prices recently, Mr Mah emphasised that HDB flat prices are closely monitored to ensure affordability.

‘We’ll keep the prices such that they are pegged to the income, so this is how we manage affordability. We make sure that the prices do not exceed the 30 per cent benchmark,’ he said.

This benchmark refers to ensuring that a household pays less than 30 per cent of its monthly income to service a home loan. In fact, within each buyer’s income brackets, expenditure on housing is about 20 per cent or so, said Mr Mah.

As for comparing prices with those of 20 years ago, ‘those are not meaningful comparisons’.

‘If we did that, we’d be comparing many things that we did 20 years ago, do we want to go back 20 years?’ he said. Continue reading →