mr funny
20-06-11, 14:05
http://www.straitstimes.com/News/Home/Story/STIStory_681372.html
Jun 19, 2011
Don't compare DBSS flats with regular ones: Khaw
By Poon Chian Hui
Privately built Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) flats should not be compared with ordinary Housing Board flats - and if home buyers find them too pricey, they can choose to give them a miss.
This was the advice of National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan in his latest blog posting yesterday afternoon.
He was responding to a flurry of criticism on social media sites sparked by a hefty $880,000 price tag for a five-room DBSS flat in Tampines - a new record. They are developed by the Sim Lian Group.
DBSS flats are housing units that lie between regular Build-to-Order (BTO) Housing Board flats and executive condos. They form 'a tiny portion of the total housing options for Singapore', wrote Mr Khaw in a blog entry titled 'DBSS is not HDB'.
In general, DBSS flats are public housing units designed and developed by private developers, and typically come with more luxurious fittings. Buyers must be Singapore citizens with a family nucleus and with a monthly household income not exceeding $10,000. In contrast, the income ceiling for ordinary HDB flats is $8,000.
Since the release of the Tampines DBSS flat prices last Thursday, the issue has attracted a steady stream of comments on Mr Khaw's blog and the Ministry of National Development's Facebook page, with many saying that the amount was too high for an HDB flat.
On the ministry's Facebook page, one netizen said the issue of skyrocketing DBSS prices was getting 'out of hand'. Another commented: 'You might as well place a knife at our throat and kill us.'
Mr Khaw said the negative reactions were not surprising. Some had even asked him if he could ask the developer to lower the prices.
But he said the ministry has no control over these flats' pricing.
'When they tendered for the land, price control was not a term of the tender,' he explained in his blog post. 'If contracts, after they are awarded, can be varied arbitrarily, this will damage Singapore's reputation as a business hub, with severe repercussions.'
It was reported last Friday that the 178 DBSS five-room flats, measuring between 1,163 sq ft and 1,173 sq ft each, cost almost twice as much as flats sold in the recent Tampines BTO project. A 1,216 sq ft unit there cost up to $444,000. There are also three-room and four-room flats for sale in the DBSS development.
When asked for the reason behind the steep prices, a spokesman for Sim Lian said the flats are in the Tampines Regional Centre, which boasts amenities such as banks, shopping malls and an upcoming integrated lifestyle hub. They are also within walking distance of Tampines MRT and the future Downtown Line 3 MRT interchange.
However, home buyers are not entirely powerless in this matter, said Mr Khaw.
'If buyers find a price too high, they can walk away,' he said. 'If the private developer prices it too high and there are no takers, there will be no sales.'
The minister said he will ramp up the supply of ordinary BTO flats and price them 'appropriately'.
He added the ministry is now working on the next BTO launch for this month and next month.
'I will price them wisely,' he said. 'Certainly, they will not be as near what the recent DBSS launch suggests.'
Of the 25,000 units slated to be built this year, 12,000 have already been launched. And the minister said he is working with the Housing Board to explore how the next launches can be combined into a larger one, because he was advised that larger launches would offer buyers more choices and reduce the chances of repeated disappointment.
'I think this is sound advice,' he said.
Ms Aileen Ong, 26, who will be married next year, said she looks forward to more BTO options, as she would not be able to afford such high DBSS prices as a first-time buyer.
'Even if I could afford it, I might as well shell out a bit more to buy a condominium unit,' she said.
Jun 19, 2011
Don't compare DBSS flats with regular ones: Khaw
By Poon Chian Hui
Privately built Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) flats should not be compared with ordinary Housing Board flats - and if home buyers find them too pricey, they can choose to give them a miss.
This was the advice of National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan in his latest blog posting yesterday afternoon.
He was responding to a flurry of criticism on social media sites sparked by a hefty $880,000 price tag for a five-room DBSS flat in Tampines - a new record. They are developed by the Sim Lian Group.
DBSS flats are housing units that lie between regular Build-to-Order (BTO) Housing Board flats and executive condos. They form 'a tiny portion of the total housing options for Singapore', wrote Mr Khaw in a blog entry titled 'DBSS is not HDB'.
In general, DBSS flats are public housing units designed and developed by private developers, and typically come with more luxurious fittings. Buyers must be Singapore citizens with a family nucleus and with a monthly household income not exceeding $10,000. In contrast, the income ceiling for ordinary HDB flats is $8,000.
Since the release of the Tampines DBSS flat prices last Thursday, the issue has attracted a steady stream of comments on Mr Khaw's blog and the Ministry of National Development's Facebook page, with many saying that the amount was too high for an HDB flat.
On the ministry's Facebook page, one netizen said the issue of skyrocketing DBSS prices was getting 'out of hand'. Another commented: 'You might as well place a knife at our throat and kill us.'
Mr Khaw said the negative reactions were not surprising. Some had even asked him if he could ask the developer to lower the prices.
But he said the ministry has no control over these flats' pricing.
'When they tendered for the land, price control was not a term of the tender,' he explained in his blog post. 'If contracts, after they are awarded, can be varied arbitrarily, this will damage Singapore's reputation as a business hub, with severe repercussions.'
It was reported last Friday that the 178 DBSS five-room flats, measuring between 1,163 sq ft and 1,173 sq ft each, cost almost twice as much as flats sold in the recent Tampines BTO project. A 1,216 sq ft unit there cost up to $444,000. There are also three-room and four-room flats for sale in the DBSS development.
When asked for the reason behind the steep prices, a spokesman for Sim Lian said the flats are in the Tampines Regional Centre, which boasts amenities such as banks, shopping malls and an upcoming integrated lifestyle hub. They are also within walking distance of Tampines MRT and the future Downtown Line 3 MRT interchange.
However, home buyers are not entirely powerless in this matter, said Mr Khaw.
'If buyers find a price too high, they can walk away,' he said. 'If the private developer prices it too high and there are no takers, there will be no sales.'
The minister said he will ramp up the supply of ordinary BTO flats and price them 'appropriately'.
He added the ministry is now working on the next BTO launch for this month and next month.
'I will price them wisely,' he said. 'Certainly, they will not be as near what the recent DBSS launch suggests.'
Of the 25,000 units slated to be built this year, 12,000 have already been launched. And the minister said he is working with the Housing Board to explore how the next launches can be combined into a larger one, because he was advised that larger launches would offer buyers more choices and reduce the chances of repeated disappointment.
'I think this is sound advice,' he said.
Ms Aileen Ong, 26, who will be married next year, said she looks forward to more BTO options, as she would not be able to afford such high DBSS prices as a first-time buyer.
'Even if I could afford it, I might as well shell out a bit more to buy a condominium unit,' she said.