Explainer | Will Singapore’s housing tweaks help families get their first homes more quickly?

Amid ballooning prices, rents and mortgages, the affordability of public flats – home to over 80 per cent of the population – is under the spotlight

Construction delays over Covid bottlenecks have extended the median wait time for new flats to 4.3 years, further delaying young couples’ plans

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Singapore is set to increase housing grants for resale flats and give an additional ballot chance for some first-time homebuyers. Photo: SCMP / Roy Issa

Published: 2:00pm, 18 Feb 2023

Public housing affordability in Singapore has become a conversation-starter in recent months, as ballooning prices, sky-high rents and a vigorous back-and-forth between the government and its critics on the path ahead for Housing Development Board (HDB) flats – home to over 80 per cent of the population – thrusts the topic to the centre of national consciousness.

Public housing also featured heavily in Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s budget speech this week that was heavy on social policy. Here are the reasons that the island state’s vaunted public housing system is being debated.

HDB public housing blocks at Marine Parade in Singapore. Photo: Bloomberg

Pandemic-induced delays

It is a decades-long norm for young couples in Singapore to apply for a public housing flat before they are even engaged – at times within a year of courtship. The reason for this is the waiting time for a new “Built-To-Order” (BTO) flat.

While there had been bottlenecks in the past, the situation before the Covid-19 pandemic was largely stable, with couples waiting for two to four years for their first homes, depending on the flat’s location and the complexity of the build.

The current median waiting time for some 94 housing projects being constructed is 4.3 years. The delay in part is due to supply chain issues and labour shortages linked to the pandemic. There is also a problem of oversubscription, leading to applicants feeling dejected by multiple failed applications.

These issues have prompted some couples to consider alternatives, such as renting while they wait for their flat to be ready or opting to buy a resale flat on the open market. Not everyone can afford these options. The upfront cash required for a BTO flat, for those eligible for various subsidies, is far lower than what is required for a market-value resale flat.