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Works “great” in Singapore? You can’t access public housing unless married or over 35. The rules keep being changed because Singaporeans see housing as a lott
by refurb 3y ago
Works “great” in Singapore?
You can’t access public housing unless married or over 35.
The rules keep being changed because Singaporeans see housing as a lottery - and it is. Land a new HDB in a prime location and you can sell it at market rates 5 years later. A cool $500,000 in your pocket.
Oh, and everything is a 99-year lease, so after paying $1M for a resale HDB you get to give it back to the government and walk away with zero.
Don’t get me wrong, it worked great at rapidly housing a large population in a country with limited space. But it’s far from an optimized or sustainable system.
- seanmcdirmid 3y agoIs the SG government going to renew leases at discount rates? There was a huge scandal in China when some older 30 year leases came up on some apartments and the local government wanted to allow renewals at market rates. Everyone just assumes when the leases expire they will be renewed at less than market pricing (so it’s as good as buying!). The central government had to step in and make the city renew the leases cheaply, since the real estate market takes these leases as a formality (and China has a a lot of 99 year leases that would go bonkers on the secondary market otherwise).
- refurb 3y agoThere are occasions where “en bloc” development happens where current owners get bought out. Or leases are extended for a payment from homeowners. But the government has come out and said “those will be the rare exceptions”. There were some 40 year lease homes that expired recently and the government took them over and tore them down with no compensation to the owners.