Tag Archives: Housing Development Board

HDB skybridge will make money, so why ask residents to pay?

Posted on 8 Oct 2009 | 1 comment

VISITORS will be allowed to use the skybridge on the 50th storey of Pinnacle @ Duxton, while the one on the 26th storey will be reserved for residents who will be issued access cards.

The Housing Board will charge a yet-to-be-decided fee for its use by non-resident visitors. It will be the first such facility in Singapore to levy a charge, with probably the integrated resort at Marina following suit on completion.

The Duxton skybridge will surely be a national and international attraction, and so generate income for the town council. I am surprised that the HDB has informed future residents at Pinnacle that monthly maintenance charges will be higher than those for other HDB blocks, to cover the higher cost of facilities, apparently to ensure proper use of the skybridges.

Should the HDB not wait and monitor the level of use before deciding on higher monthly charges? What if it turns out to be a constant, healthy revenue stream?

Richard Ho

See Also :  Don’t make applicants pay again and again in futile bidding for Duxton flats

Source : Straits Times – 8 Oct 2009

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Hard to get that first flat? Not so

Posted on 8 Oct 2009 | 1 comment

Mah sets records straight on claims by couples

NATIONAL Development Minister Mah Bow Tan has refuted claims by some first-time buyers that they could not get an HDB flat despite repeated applications.

Mr Mah said yesterday that some of the assertions that have appeared in media reports recently were ‘not entirely truthful’.

Home seekers had claimed that they were unsuccessful despite making several applications, while one hopeful said he lodged 18 attempts but still did not secure a home.

But Mr Mah said: ‘What is actually happening, is not a matter of buyers getting a flat, it’s a matter of them getting it and not selecting it for one reason or another.’

HDB figures yesterday showed that eight in 10 first-timers could get a flat on their first try if they were not choosy; the success rate was 96 per cent for the second try. Continue reading →

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