Aerial view of The Pinnacle at Duxton. Building HDB flats on prime land is not the panacea for bridging the rich-poor divide, Minister for Social and Family Development Chan Chun Sing said. -- PHOTO: ST FILE
By Rennie Whang Published on Feb 25, 2015 8:57 PM
SINGAPORE - Building HDB flats on prime land is not the panacea for bridging the rich-poor divide, Minister for Social and Family Development Chan Chun Sing said today.
This is because there then arises questions of how to allocate the flats, of cross-subsidies and even whether there would be interaction between the various residents.
Speaking at a panel at the inaugural Real Estate Developers' Association of Singapore (Redas) Mentorship Programme, which was attended by about 50 students from the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Mr Chan said: "Is it fair for someone to 'tikam' (Malay for taking a random chance), ballot and pay an artificially low price for a flat in the heart of Downtown, and five years later, after the Minimum Occupancy Period, enjoy a windfall?
"What this means is, those who did not get the flat through the ballot are cross-subsidising them."
Taking the example of The Pinnacle@Duxton, he noted that apart from potential capital gains, residents would be paying Housing Board conservancy fees of $125 a month. Equivalent services at a private condo - including lifts to the 50th or top storey, rooftop garden - could be triple that.
To date, 16 four-room flats at the project have been sold at $810,000 to $955,000, and five five-room flats at $918,000 to $1.028 million - up from $289,200 to $380,900 for four-roomers and $345,100 to $439,400 for five-roomers at its launch.
It is questionable if social mixing takes place in the greater area of Tanjong Pagar, which has both Pinnacle@Duxton and one-room rental flats at Jalan Kukoh and Jalan Minyak.
"I doubt many of them even walk to each others' precincts," said Mr Chan.
While it is possible, too, to plan integrated communities to the extent of including rental flats in blocks of Build-To-Order (BTO) flats, Mr Chan asked whether Singaporeans would truly support this, and apply for such BTOs.
"Many people would wax lyrical about (solving the rich-poor divide), but we must touch our hearts (and ask ourselves), will you look down on someone because he stays in a rental flat in the same block?
"Will you shake your head and wonder why we are mixing with these people? 'Will they affect my flat value?'...If our hearts and our answers are different, it says something about us as individuals and as a society," said Mr Chan.
Real social mixing goes beyond architecture and having different housing types within the same precinct, he added. "I encourage the more successful people to give their time, talents and treasures."
By Rennie Whang Published on Feb 25, 2015 8:57 PM
SINGAPORE - Building HDB flats on prime land is not the panacea for bridging the rich-poor divide, Minister for Social and Family Development Chan Chun Sing said today.
This is because there then arises questions of how to allocate the flats, of cross-subsidies and even whether there would be interaction between the various residents.
Speaking at a panel at the inaugural Real Estate Developers' Association of Singapore (Redas) Mentorship Programme, which was attended by about 50 students from the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Mr Chan said: "Is it fair for someone to 'tikam' (Malay for taking a random chance), ballot and pay an artificially low price for a flat in the heart of Downtown, and five years later, after the Minimum Occupancy Period, enjoy a windfall?
"What this means is, those who did not get the flat through the ballot are cross-subsidising them."
Taking the example of The Pinnacle@Duxton, he noted that apart from potential capital gains, residents would be paying Housing Board conservancy fees of $125 a month. Equivalent services at a private condo - including lifts to the 50th or top storey, rooftop garden - could be triple that.
To date, 16 four-room flats at the project have been sold at $810,000 to $955,000, and five five-room flats at $918,000 to $1.028 million - up from $289,200 to $380,900 for four-roomers and $345,100 to $439,400 for five-roomers at its launch.
It is questionable if social mixing takes place in the greater area of Tanjong Pagar, which has both Pinnacle@Duxton and one-room rental flats at Jalan Kukoh and Jalan Minyak.
"I doubt many of them even walk to each others' precincts," said Mr Chan.
While it is possible, too, to plan integrated communities to the extent of including rental flats in blocks of Build-To-Order (BTO) flats, Mr Chan asked whether Singaporeans would truly support this, and apply for such BTOs.
"Many people would wax lyrical about (solving the rich-poor divide), but we must touch our hearts (and ask ourselves), will you look down on someone because he stays in a rental flat in the same block?
"Will you shake your head and wonder why we are mixing with these people? 'Will they affect my flat value?'...If our hearts and our answers are different, it says something about us as individuals and as a society," said Mr Chan.
Real social mixing goes beyond architecture and having different housing types within the same precinct, he added. "I encourage the more successful people to give their time, talents and treasures."
