Public housing concerns raised in Parliament
Members of Parliament (MP) raised concerns over supporting infrastructure and affordability of HDB flats.
Chairman of Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) for Manpower Zainudin Nordin urged the government to find new solutions to the affordability of public housing.
"CPF grants are helpful but it seems like we are just taking money from one pocket to return it to another. We must seriously consider the pricing formula for HDB flats and seek to make it a transparent one as much as possible," said Zainudin, MP to Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC.
"This way, we can assure residents that the government is not out to make profits from sales of housing. And by pricing flats more reasonably, we can also relieve the debt service burden of our residents," Zainudin added.
Deputy chairman of GPC for Finance, Trade and Industry Liang Eng Hwa highlighted Singaporeans’ concerns who have been affected by the aggressive ramp-up of HDB's home-building programme, Channel NewsAsia reported.
Liang, MP for Holland-Bukit Timah GRC, hopes that enough emphasis will be put on supporting infrastructure and amenities while HDB builds flats fast to meet increasing demand.
"More amenities and affordable eateries need to be planned. Following the announcement on the building of new hawker centres, housing estates with a significant increase in flat supply like Zhenghua should be given priority for a new hawker centre," Liang said.
He added that some residents have accepted that there will be less open spaces and views from their windows will be blocked by new flats. Some residents are also concerned that traffic conditions will worsen in the near future.
"Just like we do not want to grow our economy at all costs, we should be careful not to build our housing at all costs. And here, the cost that I am most concerned about is the social costs, which are impossible to quantify in dollars and cents," said Liang.
