Shortage of Housing

•Challenges faced by the government

• Action Plan taken by the government to solve the shortage of housing

•Effectiveness of the action taken

Introduction

HDB's objective in the early years was to build low-cost housing for low-income Singaporeans to tackle the massive housing shortage inherited from the colonial government. Moving into the seventies, it concentrated on improving housing standards and encouraging home ownership. In the eighties, it set out to build, not just homes, but communities in self-contained towns. In the nineties and beyond, the challenge is for HDB to respond to aspirations for a better quality lifestyle, one that will continue to remain affordable and innovative.

By comparison with many other large cities in the world, modern public housing in Singapore has achieved impressive results. From old, badly degenerated, overcrowded slums, characterized by poor sanitation and lack of hygiene, high-rise public flats of varied designs and sizes now characterize the skyline. Whereas tuberculosis was rife and buildings posed fire hazards, Singaporeans today enjoy high standards of public hygiene and safety as well as numerous luxuries in high quality housing symbolic of modernity.

1918 to 1927

In 1918, the Colonial Administration set up aHousing Commission to study the housing problem in the central area. The results of the study led to the setting up of the Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT) in 1927 with the mandate of housing the homeless.

1959

The SIT had only been given building authority in 1932 and managedto construct 20,907 units between 1947 and its demise in 1959. By 1959, theSIT had only managed to house a meagre 8.8% of Singapore’s 1.6 millionpeople.

Large numbers of people still lived in continually deteriorating overcrowded slums and squatter areas with virtually no service facilities. It was estimated that in 1959, around 250,000people were living in dilapidated pre-war housing in the central city area and around 300,000 were living in shanty huts in other congested squatter areas. This was the situation that the present Singapore government inherited when it came into power in 1959. The government was faced with a lack of professional manpower, an inadequate building industry and limited financialresources. It had committed to fulfilling its election promise to construct 10,000 units of low-cost housing annually in its first five-year programme. On 1 February 1960, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) was established to carry out this task.

1. Insufficient housing units (Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT) set up by the British colonial government in 1927 built many public housing units particularly in the post- WW2 period , but they were insufficient.

2. So acute that about ½ million people were living in slums & squatter settlements when SG achieved self-government in 1959

3. Problem confined to slums in and around the city area4. Cramped and unhygienic living conditions in these areas

were breeding grounds for infectious diseases, made escape for fire almost impossible (therefore, increased the death rate)

5. sanitary conditions described as unbearable

Challenges faced by government

Actions taken by government

PAP gave top priority to the housing problem when it took over SG1. PAP government set up Housing & Development Board (HDB) in Feb 1960 to replace SIT in providing public housing for rapidly increasing population

2. HDB implemented housing programme (3 Five-Year Plans)

1st five year plan and limitations of actions

-housing estates emerged based on “neighbourhood” concept where each neighbourhood comprising 1000 to 5000 families was served by a self-contained cluster of shops, primary schools, clinics, community centres and playground to minimise travel outside neighbourhood.-located on the fringes of the central area (e.g. Tiong Bahru, Queenstown, Toa Payoh & Mac Pherson) (so basically the 1st 5 year plan focused on building as many flats as possible)Problems faced: 1. SG’s limited land area2. Challenge of keeping construction cost low to ensure that flats were affordable to lower-income group3. Resettling people living in slums and squatter settlements4. Urgency of matter : dangerous living conditions. For example, fire in Bukit Ho Swee in May 1961 destroyed property worth about 1 million dollars, left 16000 people homeless, 54 injured, 2 dead)

2nd 5-Year-Plan: focus on improving the quality of housing programme

2nd five year plan (1966-1970)Improvement was made to the design of estates & flats

More open spaces between buildingsAmenities such as playgrounds, landscaping and car-

park facilities were provided“Point-block” type of flats were introduced to provide

residents with more privacy

3rd Five Year Plan: (1971)HDB catered to housing needs of middle-income

households who wanted bigger flats , but could not afford private property.

HUDC (Housing and Urban Development Company (Private Limited) was formed in 1974 to design flats

that cost less, but were comparable in quality & design with those built by the private sector

2nd and 3rd 5 year plan

Home Ownership in Singapore,1980 and 1990

Type of Dwelling Home Ownership (%) 1980 1990

HDB Flats 60.8 91.7

Private Houses & Flats 72.0 87.2

Others 46.1 63.6

Overall 58.9 90.2

Source: Department of Statistics( 1991,Table 28).

Bibliography

http://profile.nus.edu.sg/fass/geokongl/tsehse.pdf

http://tcdc.undp.org/Sie/experiences/vol4/Public%20housing.pdf

(very good-read)

http://library.thinkquest.org/C006891/passingprint.html(timeline of HDB development shown)

THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND ATTENTION! :D