AFFORDABILITY OF NEW HDB FLATS TO NEWLY-FORMED HOUSEHOLDS
CHIN KHAI YING
CHIN KHAI YING
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Abstract
In his National Day Rally speech, our Prime Minister identified the ominous trend of falling total fertility rate (TFR) as a national concern because of the possible detrimental effects it would bring to the nation if it persists in the long run. It is believed that the affordability of housing holds one of the keys to the resolution of this concern. Therefore, this study seeks to ascertain the couples who cannot afford public housing in terms of their socio-economic characteristics. As the inability to afford a decent house would pose a great impediment to the setting up of new families, measures to assist the households who are in need are also
recommended.
This study finds that new households with the husband as the sole breadwinner generally can marginally afford the purchase of new 4-room HDB units, and can ill-afford new 5-room and executive HDB units.
This raises the question as to which socio-economic group of households cannot afford new 4-room HDB unit, since 4-room HDB units are the most basic type of flat currently developed by HDB. Further analysis shows that a clear majority of young, male single breadwinners (barring those in the top three income-earning occupational groups) cannot afford even new 4-room HDB units.
Therefore, policy measures to improve affordability of new HDB flats are recommended. These measures are tailored to achieve more equitable allocation and to reduce the housing financial burden of newly-formed households in the initial years of their occupation of new HDB flats.
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Date
2001
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