An Overview of Singapore’s Public Housing System

Singapore is one of the most expensive countries to live in, yet it’s also famous for its substantially high house ownership rate. What made a country that used to suffer from the worst housing situation become like this today? 

In 1927, the Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT) was first introduced to improve the living conditions in the city. Before, many Singaporeans had lived in overcrowded and unhygienic slums or squatter settlements. However, the SIT failed to meet the demands of Singapore’s rapidly growing population, and the housing situation got even worse after World War 2.1 After gaining its independence, the Housing Department Board (HDB) was established in 1961 to solve the alarming housing crisis in the country. In May of the same year, a massive fire occurred at the Bukit Ho Swee squatter settlement, leading to the relocation of more than 16,000 people.2 The fire prompted the authorities to enact the Land Acquisition Act in 1966, which states that “private land may at times be acquired for public purposes such as economic and infrastructure developments and public programs”.3 The act also restricted the amount of compensation given to the landowners based on the land’s value before urban development, which permitted the Singaporean authorities to obtain the land quickly.4  

The HDB further launched The Home Ownership for the People Scheme in February 1964, aiming to create an affordable housing market for low-income Singapore households to purchase from the government under a 99-year lease basis.5  Singaporean workers under the age of 55 also have to pay 20% of their income to the Central Provident Fund (CPF), which one can only withdraw money from for specific reasons such as housing, healthcare, or retirement, etc.)6

As of 2021, more than 78% of Singaporeans live in HDB apartments, across 24 towns around the island.7 Each town is designed to hold from 100 - 200 hundred thousand people with exceptional infrastructures. Apartments also come in various shapes and sizes, arranged in a way to prevent a repetitive visual, and they are well connected by the MRT system. Different apartment units are also laid out on the same floor to build up a united community between income classes. Moreover, Singapore public housing follows strict ethnic regulations; people from Chinese, Malay, Indian, and other ethnicities all have a limited percentage of occupation in a neighborhood. When reaching that limit, it is prohibited to buy or sell any real estate in the neighborhood. This was made to ensure social solidarity in a multicultural country like Singapore.8 

The fact that Singaporeans are willing to let their government easily acquire their properties and set numerous limitations on house ownership shows how much effort the government had dedicated. Other countries could see Singapore as a model of urban development, and proper policies can monumentally change society in numerous aspects.