Housing

by ValuePenguin If you’ve been considering purchasing your first home, you may be concerned by the property market cooling measures introduced by the government earlier this month. How will these measures affect you as you plan to purchase your first home? Individuals preparing to purchase their first home typically pay close attention to interest rate changes and other news that will …

Would you downgrade your HDB flat and use all your net sales proceeds to top-up your CPF and get no cash, to get up to $20,000 Silver Housing Bonus? I refer to the HDB’s three-quarter page color advertisement on page B11 of the Straits Times on 21 July “A roof over your head, an income for life” It states that …

Given that the majority of Singaporeans live in Housing Development Board (HDB) flats, consideration needs to be given to how the often rigid rules applied by the HDB need to be updated to suit the changing needs of the country. The HDB was formed in 1960 to address the housing needs of a Singapore that had just gained self-governance from …

by ValuePenguin Buying a condo in Singapore can easily set you back more than a million dollars. But even if you have enough cash to buy one, will you have enough enough money to afford the hidden costs that come with it? Property in Singapore is expensive, whether you are looking to rent, buy your first HDB or upgrade to a …

Housing and Development Board (HDB) is looking into setting up floating solar panels in the open sea to accelerate the adoption of solar energy in the Republic. The board announced on Sunday (8 July) that  it will start a research collaboration with landscaping firm, ISO Landscape to begin research to test its modular system, a support structure that can hold solar …

The Singapore government has revised Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) rates and Loan-to-Value (LTV) limits on purchases made on residential property as a preventative measure against a catastrophic property bubble burst. In a joint media release by the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of National Development and the Monetary Authority of Singapore, titled Raising Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty Rates and …

In its flash estimate of resale prices for the second quarter released on Monday (2 July), the Housing and Development Board (HDB) said that the supply of new flats will be “reduced slightly”. HDB noted that the resale prices for flats inched up 0.1 per cent in the March to June period compared to the previous quarter, with the Resale Price …

Below is a blog post by Singapore Democrats A decorative panel fell 40 storeys from an HDB block in Bendemeer Road “with a loud crash” next to a playground. Luckily, no one was injured. The mishap could have been deadly – involving children. In response to queries from The Straits Times, HDB and the Jalan Besar Town Council (JBTC) said: “The …

by ValuePenguin Housing is one of the largest and most important expenditures for most individuals. With that said, many renters and homeowners have no idea how much of their income should be spent on housing costs. How much of your monthly budget should you really be spending on housing? Whether you’re a young professional renting your first flat or experienced homeowner …

To what extent are the HDB’s policies contributing to ‘housing inequality’ in Singapore? I refer to the article “Commentary: Direct interventions, not just social mixing, needed to narrow housing inequality” (Channel NewsAsia, Jun 23). It states that “Housing inequality is also felt through specific rental housing policies. People who need public rental housing face many hardships. The income ceiling of …