Three years ago, Mr Gurdev Singh was working in a security firm for a monthly pay of $1,200. The divorcee with a son, had just started dating. He and his girlfriend were thinking of starting a family, so he bought a flat. "Six months later, we broke off. I tried ways to keep the 5-room flat. I tried my very best until I couldn't make it," he recalled. Mr Singh negotiated with the Housing Development...
HDB News
AT 72, Mr Koh Chiong Eng is worried he may lose his job as a petrol pump assistant. That is why he was among the five who signed up for the Lease Buyback scheme, which was officially launched yesterday some two years after Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong mooted the idea. "I can‚t take the flat with me if I die. It‚s better to sell it to the Government and get some money to meet my daily needs," he...
Singapore's Housing and Development Board Lease Buyback Scheme started on Sunday, after two years in the works. Five applications were received in the first hour. The scheme is designed to help cash-poor, asset-rich seniors meet their retirement needs. 72-year-old Koh Chiong Eng is afraid he may lose his petrol pump attendant job soon because of his age. If that happens, meeting daily expenditure will...
Mixed views on whether pricing is attractive to buyers THE first batch of HDB flats for this year has been launched, but do they reflect homebuyers‚ budgets in this downturn? And are their prices an indication of what to expect from other projects later this year? Champion Court, at the junction of Champions Way and Woodlands Avenue 1, was launched yesterday under the Build-To-Order (BTO) system, where...
The new build-to-order (BTO) flats at Champions Court in Woodlands caught their eye, but the young couple decided to stick with their application for a four-room flat at Sengkang even though prices were similar. Why? Bride-to-be Izyanty Asmary, 23, said she was “not comfortable” with having studio apartments — targetted for senior Singaporeans — in the same residence, and the Woodlands flats...
For the first time, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) is launching studio apartments in Woodlands under the Build-To-Order scheme. Called Champions Court, there will be 224 units of studio apartments, 182 units of 3-room, 224 units of 4-room and 185 units of 5-room flats available. 3-room flats will cost at least S$118,000, while prices of 4-room flats and 5-room flats will start from S$194,000 and...
Singapore's public housing estates could well be powered by sunlight in future, if a pilot project currently underway proves successful. Already, the Energy Save Programme - spearheaded by the Housing and Development Board (HDB), the National Environment Agency and the Energy Market Authority - has shown positive results. The aim of the programme is to bring down energy consumption in all HDB estates by...
WE REFER to Mr Quek Soo Beng‚s letter "A second chance at home" (Feb 10), on the Lease Buyback Scheme (LBS). The LBS is a generous scheme specially designed to meet the needs of the elderly. It allows them to continue living in the same HDB flat and neighbourhood, while leading a more financially secure retirement. It is an option to unlock the value of the flat, in addition to subletting a room or...
More is going to be done to promote cycling in Singapore. The Land Transport Authority (LTA) will spend S$43 million to design and construct dedicated cycling tracks next to pedestrian footpaths in HDB estates. The first phase of this programme will be implemented in Tampines, Yishun, Sembawang, Pasir Ris and Taman Jurong. Foldable bicycles will also be allowed on MRT trains and public buses during...
I DISAGREE with the recommendations to build "no-frills" housing to meet the needs of young couples who cannot afford resale flats or even new flats direct from HDB. Firstly, not having features such as playgrounds or BBQ pits in such a no-frills housing estate will have social repercussions. The idea contradicts the Government's campaign of encouraging couples to start a family or have more children....