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Singapore Housing and Development Board
Central to the issue of land management was another
statutory
board, the Housing and Development Board, established in
1960.
Between 1960 and 1985, the government-owned board
completed more
than 500,000 high-rise, high-density public housing
apartments--
known as housing estates--along with their related
facilities were
completed. By comparison, the British colonial
government's
Singapore Improvement Trust had completed only 23,000
apartments in
its thirty-two years of existence (1927-59). From 1974 to
1982, the
Housing and Development Board built and marketed
middle-income
apartments, an activity which became a function of the
board after
1982.
By 1988 the Housing Development Board was providing
housing and
related facilities for 88 percent of Singaporeans, or some
2.3
million people--a feat that has been called urban
Singapore's
equivalent of "land reform." Government encouragement of
apartment
ownership was both an economic and a "nation building"
goal because
individual ownership would ultimately pay for the program
while
giving citizens a "stake in Singapore." The board also
provided
estate management services and played an active role in
promoting
the advancement of construction technology. As one of the
country's
major domestic industries, housing construction served as
an
important economic pump primer.
Home owners were encouraged to use their Central
Provident Fund
savings to pay for the apartments. The factors determining
the
selling prices of apartments included location,
construction cost,
ability of the applicants to pay, and the practical limits
to
government subsidies. Resettlement policies aimed at
equitable
payments, minimal readjustment, and real improvement in
housing
conditions. In social terms, attention was paid to
providing an
environment conducive to community living, integrating the
population, preserving the traditional Asian family
structure, and
encouraging upward social mobility by providing
opportunities for
home upgrading.
Starting with a capital expenditure of S$10 million in
1960,
the Housing and Development Board's annual capital
expenditures
rose to about S$4 billion by 1985. The board's capital
budget, with
funds obtained in the form of low-interest government
loans,
represented 40 percent of the government's capital budget.
Selling
prices, rent rates, and maintenance charges were
determined by the
government, and the board received an annual subsidy of 1
to 2
percent of the government's main operating expenditure.
Data as of December 1989
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