COMPARATIVE STUDY OF GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION ON HOUSING MARKETS IN SINGAPORE AND HONG KONG.

Abstract

Singapore and Hong Kong are often chosen for comparative research as they share manysimilarities in terms of geography, historical background, social and economic structures. Both cities are viewed as successful models in their public housing programmes over the past few decades. This dissertation aims to discuss the form of government intervention on housing market in both cities and their impacts on the housing systems. The forms of government intervention come mainly from three channels, namely regulation, direct provision, and subsidies. In Singapore, the government is actively involved in both the public and private sectors through various regulations and subsidies. In Hong Kong, the degree of intervention tends to focus more on the public housing sector. The extent of intervention is bias towards the lower-income group, to ensure their affordability of housing. In Singapore, strong government intervention has resulted in 86% of households residing in public housing with the rate of homeownership at 92.8%. On the other hand, 49.6% of the households in Hong Kong stay in public housing. Although both cities place great emphasis on homeownership, the proportion of households living in public rental flats in Hong Kong remains relatively high. Regression analysis revealed that the mechanisms of CPF have the greatest effect on public housing in Singapore, whereas the number of applicants on the waiting list has the highest correlation with the Hong Kong's public housing market.