Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that the solutions for Singapore's pension problem are for people to "work longer and retire later" or to "live on less in retirement".
Actually there may be other arguably simpler solutions - reduce the prices of HDB BTO flats and pay a higher interest on our CPF.
According to Hansard (8 December, 1965) – “National Development – Housing – The First Five-Year Housing Programme (1961 – 1965), produced 51,000 units of low-cost housing at the cost of $192 million.”
HDB flat cost $3,765?
So, does it mean that the average cost per HDB flat was only about $3,765? ($192 million/51,000)
I understand that the first HDB flats were sold for around $3,000.
Flats sold at cost?
So, does it mean that HDB flats were initially sold at or very close to cost?
Ratio of price to income?
As I understand that the average working man was getting about $200 a month then – does it mean that the ratio of the price of HDB flats to income was only about 1.25 years ($3,000/$200)?
Fast forward to now, according to the ratio is now about 5 years.
For three room flats, prices are 4.57 times that of applicants’ annual salaries.
Prices of four-room flats are 5.26 times that of annual salaries and for five-room flats, it is 5.36 times.
The HDB’s target is to reduce it to 4.
HDB flats are “affordable”?
How on earth did our public housing end up with the current state of “affordability” of HDB BTO flats?
Win battles lose war
TRS Contributor