Stories By: MND Singapore (116 Articles Found)
Providing affordable flats and good homes
2019 has been a busy year for MND’s work on public housing. In Sept this year, we made two major policy moves – we raised the income ceilings for HDB flats and introduced a new Enhanced CPF Housing…
Stretching our land options – Going upward, downward and seaward
Land is a critical factor in any country’s development, more so for a little red dot like Singapore. Hence, we are always looking at different ways to stretch our land options. One strategy is to go upward. We…
New option to get HDB flats even sooner
Every year, about 20,000 Singaporean households buy a flat from HDB. Many do so through the BTO or the SBF exercises. In 2017, we introduced the ROF exercise, where all unsold HDB flats are offered in a common…
More help for seniors
Financial planning for retirement is something we must all take seriously. For HDB flat owners, this process is also linked to the various monetisation options to unlock the value of their flats. Before deciding on any particular option,…
Transforming construction with BuildTech
Tech is the buzzword across all sectors of the economy. We are all familiar with terms like FinTech for the financial industry, PropTech for the real estate industry, and MedTech for medical devices. But what about BuildTech? While…
Planning ahead for our next phase of public housing
Public housing is a success story unique to Singapore. Over the years, we have provided affordable and quality homes for the vast majority of Singaporeans. Now, we are planning ahead for the next phase of our public housing…
First batch of Tengah flats in Nov 2018
HDB has always challenged itself to do better and break new frontiers, in imagining and planning each HDB town and estate. Take for instance Marine Parade, which was made possible only through our land reclamation efforts. Over time,…
Another fruitful year for public housing
2017 has been another fruitful year for public housing. This year, we focused much of our efforts on helping first-timer families move in to their homes more quickly. For first-timer couples looking to settle down quickly, we made…
Faster and easier HDB resale transactions
A HDB resale transaction can be quite an involved process for both buyers and sellers. Currently, it takes about 16 weeks to complete a resale transaction, requiring two appointments with HDB. We can do better than this. Earlier…
Quality matters
As the saying goes, in real estate, it’s all about “location, location, and location”. But quality matters greatly too. Every home owner wants to move into a home with good workmanship and minimal defects. This is why MND…
New options to get HDB flats sooner
During the Budget this year, I announced two measures to help couples get their new homes sooner. HDB is ready to launch the two measures. The first is to offer BTO flats with shorter waiting times by commencing…
High-tech farming in Singapore
Some of you may have read about local fish farm Apollo Aquaculture opening a new high-tech joint venture farm in Brunei a few months ago. This helps to reduce the risk of supply disruptions by diversifying our food…
Choosing a home for life
I read a recent Lianhe Zaobao article (15 Mar) which highlighted the high prices of several short-lease HDB flats in the resale market. While resale flats are transacted on a willing buyer-willing seller basis, I was concerned by…
Building homes, supporting families
2016 marks another fruitful year of our public housing programme. We successfully launched about 18,000 BTO flats spread evenly across the mature and non-mature estates. This kept prices stable and offered many choices to home buyers. Meanwhile, the…
Fresh start housing scheme: A fresh start for families
In Apr, I spoke about the new Fresh Start Housing Scheme. The scheme aims to help second-timer families in public rental flats and with young children to own a home of their own again. I’m happy to announce…
Car-Free Sunday SG is back!
Eight months ago, we made an unprecedented decision to close a number of roads in the heart of CBD to vehicles on the last Sun of each month and transform the precinct into a huge car-free activity space.…
Ensuring a good and safe HDB living environment
In July, I had explained in Parliament that MND will study the possibility of helping the Town Councils (TCs) to retrofit their existing lifts with key enhancements and new safety features. Last Fri, BCA recommended that lift owners…
Making public spaces fun
What do you usually do when waiting at the bus-stop? Soon it could be a more enjoyable experience. A group of young architects from DP Architects approached URA with a novel idea to design a bus stop to…
Engineering better homes for all
Our colleagues at HDB engage in continuous R&D, and come up with innovative solutions to create a better living environment for residents. In recognition of its work, HDB has been conferred several engineering awards. The Pinnacle @ Duxton,…
Finding the right balance
URA announced the GLS Programme for the second half of 2016 earlier today. In considering the land quantum for the 2H2016 GLS programme, we have taken into account several factors. First, the decline in the number of remaining…
Service at your fingertips
We live in exciting times. Technology has opened up new and boundless opportunities in the way we live, learn, work and play. The Government is also leveraging technology to improve our services and enhance our engagement with Singaporeans.…
Home for every budget and need
The May 2016 BTO exercise was launched earlier today. A total of 3,770 BTO flats are available for application, alongside another 5,170 flats in the concurrent SBF exercise. I know many buyers have been looking forward to this…
Our first Car-Free Sunday SG
Over the past few weeks, I’ve met and spoken to many Singaporeans who support the vision of a car-lite and people-friendly city. It will take tremendous effort and time to make our vision a reality. But if we…
Another successful year of housing a nation
As we celebrated our Golden Jubilee, we also had many moments to reflect on our progress as a nation. A major part of this journey in nation building is our home ownership programme. This morning, I visited a…
Helping public rental families own a home again
A few weeks ago, I shared in my FB post that MND and HDB are gathering views on the Fresh Start Housing Scheme through a series of public dialogues. One of the groups we consulted were former flat…
Healthy response to bumper launch
The Nov 2015 BTO and SBF exercise will close tonight. This is a landmark launch for HDB, with a record 12,411 flats on offer. It is also significant because several policy changes took effect, benefiting many more Singaporeans…
More affordable to buy a resale flat
At the National Day Rally (NDR) this year, PM announced several measures to make public housing more affordable for more Singaporeans, and to help more families live closer together for mutual care and support. Some of the measures…
Continue the tradition; build the future
I’ve just started work at MND. Boon Wan has done an excellent job in achieving a soft landing for the housing market. But the job is not done. I will continue the work, and I hope Singaporeans will…
Phew, a much welcome soft landing!
With the Cabinet reshuffle, this will be my last blog post on “Housing Matters”. I started this blog more than 4 years ago, with a post: “Trepidation and Expectation”. Housing was hot and I came to MND with…
Serving with Passion
Modern Singapore was built by many pioneers who had selflessly toiled in the background. Mr Tan Lian Ker, who turned 86 this year, is one. He is one of MND’s longest serving board members, having served as President…
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