New housing policies are showing results: Khaw Boon Wan

[princess_morbucks]

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/...medium=twitter

SINGAPORE: New housing policies are showing results, said National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan.
In his ministry's blog post on Thursday, Mr Khaw said ramping up the construction of Build-To-Order flats, and introducing the Parenthood Priority Scheme (PPS) and Parenthood Provisional Housing Scheme (PPHS) are meant to help the young meet their aspirations as soon as they are ready to do so.

Mr Khaw said the first-timer backlog is largely cleared.

Come January 2014, almost 10,000 couples would have benefited from the PPS.

Mr Khaw noted that among these couples, about half or nearly 5,000 couples are either expecting, or already have young children below two years old.

There is also good response to the PPHS, with nearly 800 flats being taken up since its launch.

Mr Khaw said as vacancies are still available, eligible families can now apply for PPHS at any time, and move into their PPHS flats soon after applying.

PPHS offers families the option of temporarily renting a HDB flat at affordable rates, while they wait for their new flats to be ready.


- CNA/xq

[princess_morbucks]

http://mndsingapore.wordpress.com/20...al-objectives/

When formulating housing policies, I am guided by important social objectives. What are they?

First, we encourage the young to get married.

Family is the foundation of all societies. A stable family builds a stable society.


Second, we encourage the couples to have children as soon as they get married.

Young healthy parents provide the best chances for their children.
In my generation, most went through this sequence: get married, rent a home, have a baby or more, buy a home. I did.
But my young Sembawang activists taught me that such a sequence was outdated. What is cool is to first get a home, then get married, and start a family. In fact, I am attending the wedding next month of one such activist. He has been courting his fiancée for years. Both applied and successfully selected a Build-To-Order (BTO) flat (in Sembawang) three years ago. They are now getting married because the flat is about to be handed over.


That is why I moved quickly in MND, to (a) ramp up BTO flat construction, (b) introduce the Parenthood Priority Scheme (PPS), and (c) the Parenthood Provisional Housing Scheme (PPHS). All three initiatives are meant to help the young meet their aspirations as soon as they are ready to do so. In particular, those applying under the PPS in non-mature estates enjoyed a very good chance of success.


I am glad the new policies are showing results. The first-timer backlog is largely cleared. And come January, almost 10,000 couples will have benefitted from the PPS. Among them, about half or nearly 5,000 couples are either expecting, or already have young children below 2 years old.


We are also seeing good response to the PPHS. This offers families the option of temporarily renting a HDB flat at affordable rates, while they wait for their new flats to be ready. Since the launch of the PPHS, nearly 800 flats have been taken up. As vacancies are still available, eligible families can now apply for PPHS at any time. They can also move into their PPHS flats soon after applying.


It’s been a very busy year here at MND. We are having the final BTO block handover tomorrow as we put a cap to the work done in 2013, and map out the plans for 2014.


Happy Boxing Day!

[leesg123]

Good Job MND! Good Job Mr Khaw!

[Allthepies]

Yup job well done. ..good good...

[Reisor]

A true leader, one who governs with sound principles and values of family & society.

[lajia]

indeed they have done a good job only if only they have done this based on those principles...but my opinion, they have overdone it!
objectively deflate the pricing of open market, hearing the wrong voices of those seems louder, using taxer payer money to subsidize minority's dreams, diverting some true investments that benefits the economy etc...
if they have just gotten rid of over-leveraging and speculating elements, good enough. but they have over kill it.

can be better I hope. they should now start to amend. and if I am correct, they should be on their way to remove some of those CMs if not it might be too late. and too much for them to handle later on.

A true leader, one who governs with sound principles and values of family & society.

[teddybear]

Better not, Still waiting for the market to crash after their all these CMs (I believe will crash if they don't do anything)............

indeed they have done a good job only if only they have done this based on those principles...but my opinion, they have overdone it!
objectively deflate the pricing of open market, hearing the wrong voices of those seems louder, using taxer payer money to subsidize minority's dreams, diverting some true investments that benefits the economy etc...
if they have just gotten rid of over-leveraging and speculating elements, good enough. but they have over kill it.

can be better I hope. they should now start to amend. and if I am correct, they should be on their way to remove some of those CMs if not it might be too late. and too much for them to handle later on.

[princess_morbucks]

http://www.todayonline.com/singapore...rry-later-khaw

SINGAPORE — The social norm that one would first get married, rent a home and start a family before purchasing a property is now “outdated”.
Instead, couples now prefer to buy a home, then wed and have children, said National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan yesterday.

Writing on his blog in a post titled Housing Policies Must Support Social Objectives, Mr Khaw acknowledged the mindset shift among younger Singaporeans. “In my generation, most went through this sequence: Get married, rent a home, have a baby or more, buy a home. I did. But my young Sembawang activists taught me that such a sequence was outdated. What is cool is to first get a home, then get married and start a family,” said Mr Khaw.
He cited the example of a Sembawang activist who successfully applied for a Build-to-Order (BTO) flat with his fiancee three years ago. They are now getting married because the flat is about to be handed over.
To help the young meet their aspirations “as soon as they are ready to do so”, Mr Khaw said he had “moved quickly” to ramp up the construction of BTO flats as well as introduce the Parenthood Priority Scheme (PPS) and Parenthood Provisional Housing Scheme (PPHS).
These policies are showing results, with the first-timer backlog “largely cleared”.
The PPS sets aside 30 per cent of BTO flats and 50 per cent of soon-to-be-completed BTO flats or Sale of Balance Flats for married couples who are first-time applicants and have children under 16 years old.
Mr Khaw said that almost 10,000 couples would have benefited from the PPS by next month. About half of these are expecting or already have children below two years old.
The PPHS provides rental housing for married couples with children who are first-time applicants and need temporary housing while waiting for the completion of their new flats.
Since its launch, almost 800 flats have been taken up. PPHS flats are located in Ang Mo Kio, Bedok, Jurong West and Queenstown. The Housing and Development Board said there are about 360 such flats available for future selection exercises.


Mr Khaw outlined the social objectives guiding housing policies: To encourage the young to get married and have children as soon as they wed.
“Family is the foundation of all societies. A stable family builds a stable society,” said Mr Khaw, adding that “young healthy parents provide the best chances for their children”.

Analysts TODAY spoke to were divided on whether Mr Khaw’s acknowledgement of a new social norm could signal a fundamental shift in housing policies. Agreeing that it could mark a change, Mr Colin Tan, Director and head of research and consultancy at Suntec Real Estate, argued that housing policies in the past had shaped social behaviour as it made more sense financially to buy a home early instead of renting.
He added: “If the (intent) was to ensure procreation starts as early as possible, let not housing be the reason for holding couples back from getting married and having babies earlier.”
To help Singaporeans have children earlier instead of waiting until their flats are completed, Mr Tan suggested that the Government consider providing heavy rental subsidies to couples for a limited period of time.
Mr Nicholas Mak, Executive Director of Research and Consultancy at SLP International Property Consultants, pointed out that from time to time, the Government would have to tweak policies to respond to what Singaporeans want and “changing social patterns”.
He cited the move to allow singles to buy two-room BTO flats as an example.
“For singles, while the floodgates have already been opened and they are allowed to buy new BTO flats, the question now is: Should they be allowed to buy bigger HDB flats?” he said.
“At the moment, singles are allowed to buy only two-room (units) and feedback from the people is that it’s just way too small ... like a shoebox apartment.” ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY WOO SIAN BOON

[k00L]

indeed they have done a good job only if only they have done this based on those principles...but my opinion, they have overdone it!
objectively deflate the pricing of open market, hearing the wrong voices of those seems louder, using taxer payer money to subsidize minority's dreams, diverting some true investments that benefits the economy etc...
if they have just gotten rid of over-leveraging and speculating elements, good enough. but they have over kill it.

can be better I hope. they should now start to amend. and if I am correct, they should be on their way to remove some of those CMs if not it might be too late. and too much for them to handle later on.

The government has the benefit of hindsight of seeing how free and open market can lead to boom and bust in the past few years. I think it is prudent to be cautious and over-react on CMs
Moreover, the QE employed by many countries are such unconventional monetary policies that no one knows what gonna happen eventually..

I dont think the market is killed by them - currently market is in the capacitor mode, storing and building future value (foreigners continue waiting at sidelines to enter, high resident wages inflation)

[teddybear]

PUBLISHED DECEMBER 27, 2013
Schroders, Baring avoiding Singapore stocks
Worry of real estate slump and higher interest rates
PRINT |EMAIL THIS ARTICLE
[SINGAPORE] Schroders plc and Baring Asset Management Ltd are avoiding Singapore stocks, the cheapest in South-east Asia, as slower economic growth in the region and cuts to Federal Reserve stimulus drive capital outflows.
The fund managers expect property to lead declines in Singapore amid a real-estate slump and the prospect of higher interest rates. The Straits Times Index was the worst-performing developed market in 2013, dropping 9.5 per cent since Fed chairman Ben Bernanke said in May that bond purchases may be reduced on signs of sustainable US recovery.
Capital has been fleeing South-east Asia as investors seek higher returns in North America. The market value of Singapore shares fell 5.6 per cent to US$567 billion this year as at Monday as 10-year US bond yields climbed to a two-year high in September, making dividends from the city-state's real-estate investment trusts less attractive.
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose to a record after the Fed announced last Wednesday it was cutting stimulus, citing optimism about the labour market.

Better not, Still waiting for the market to crash after their all these CMs (I believe will crash if they don't do anything)............

[oops]

The effect has yet to be felt and its just the beginning of the cycle..