First-Time Owners May Not Need To Settle For Less If Mature Estates Get More Bto Units

[neubie 2]

This kind of people should be slapped big time.

Sunday Times 12 June 2011

By Gladys Chung

I am getting married in six months. But my fiance and I have not settled on a flat yet as we are hoping to get a new Build-to-Order (BTO) Housing Board unit in a mature estate. In the meantime, we will be bunking in with my in-laws.

We sing the same tune as many other young couples: We want to be in a convenient location - one that's near our parents and in-laws. We are in our late 20s and cannot afford to pay $1 million or more for private housing. We don't want to spend on a pricey resale HDB flat either.

Anyway, I believe there's more to life than being shackled to an exorbitant housing loan for 30 years.

Like my fiance, who works in a bank, I don't see the point of buying a home in an outlying estate for a lower price when we will end up spending more on transport. For me, settling for such a flat just because it is more affordable and I have a greater chance of getting one, is as flawed a decision as buying an ill-fitting skirt just because it is on discount.

We were among the thousands rejected for the Dawson BTO flats in Queenstown that were launched in 2009. The combined 1,718 flats at SkyVille@Dawson and Sky Terrace@Dawson garnered 10,098 applications.

Apart from balloting for some leftover flats in Hougang last year - again, we were not selected - we haven't applied for a flat since because most of the BTOs were not in areas we favour. My parents live in Serangoon Gardens, so I hope to get a flat in Bishan, Ang Mo Kio or Toa Payoh.

My fiance and I were even wondering if we should leave Singapore and explore options elsewhere - since we could not afford to buy a home here in a location we loved, we thought we might as well delay our plans to have a baby right after marriage, relocate somewhere with more exciting opportunities and pay rent.

Then, Mr Khaw Boon Wan came into the picture. Just weeks after he took over the reins at the Ministry of National Development in May, he stated in a post on his Housing Matters blog that he was looking to 'put up more sites in mature estates'.

'We... should try to meet the aspirations of many young couples wanting to set up nests near their parents,' he wrote. He also mentioned that mature estates such as Kallang/Whampoa could be BTO sites next year.

To us, his words signalled a shift in policy as his predecessor Mah Bow Tan had said that most of the BTO supply would be located in non-mature estates such as Sengkang, Punggol and Sembawang.

Naturally, I was thrilled by Mr Khaw's words. I have returned to daydreaming about owning a home that is near suburban malls, established facilities, a bus interchange and an MRT station - instead of one in a foreign land. I have signed up for the HDB eAlert Service so I can be kept informed of the latest launches, and I am all ready to ballot for a flat in my dream location.

For now, allow me to make some suggestions about how the Government can make lives easier for young couples looking for their first homes.

Sacrifice some Government land parcels in mature estates and allocate them for BTO flats instead of selling them to private developers.

Filling government coffers should come second to ensuring that young couples can afford to buy homes they want to live in - especially since the local birth rate hit at an all-time low of 1.16 last year, down from 1.22 in 2009, and way below the replacement level of 2.1.

Do away with the minimum occupation period (MOP) of five years for first-time home owners.

If couples have to buy a flat from an outlying estate in order to own a home, then allow them to rent out the whole flat without having to wait out the MOP. For my fiance and myself, the money would help us save enough to eventually buy another place near our parents. Meanwhile, we could live with my in-laws, who will be a great help when I have children.

There are ways to avoid abuse by opportunists.

Currently, HDB flat owners are not allowed to own a private property during the MOP. Thus, no one can vie for an HDB flat just so they can earn rental income while living in a private property of their own elsewhere.

Furthermore, there is a dearth of rental flats for divorcees with children who need temporary accommodation, as Mr Khaw pointed out at a youth forum last month. First-time home owners who want to rent out their flats can be matched with these divorcees, or with young Singaporean couples who need an interim space before they buy their own homes.

Work on improving facilities and transportation systems in non-mature estates.

Build more MRT stations, suburban malls and facilities in these areas. Once Sengkang or Bukit Panjang looks like another bustling Serangoon Central or Bishan, who wouldn't want to live there?

Edited June 13, 2011 by neubie

[marshmallow 0]

This kind of people should be slapped big time.

Sunday Times 12 June 2011

publishing this kind of letter is really wasting paper space on Sunday Times! yes she can continue to daydream (and most likely will continue to complain at the same time)

[neubie 2]

publishing this kind of letter is really wasting paper space on Sunday Times! yes she can continue to daydream (and most likely will continue to complain at the same time)

she thinks she really big F? ai pee ai chee ai koon lor pi? still got the audacity to ask gahment to scrap the MOP and rent out their faraway flat while they stay with their in-laws? what is this?

[therat 18]

she can continue sleeping and dreaming.

[marshmallow 0]

she can continue sleeping and dreaming.

i supposed there will be a sea of replies responding to her letter in the next few days.....

KBW already made it clear that while he is studying the possibility of BTO in mature estates, it will be impossible for many of the areas as they are already heavily built up. she is really sleeping and dreaming

[marshmallow 0]

she thinks she really big F? ai pee ai chee ai koon lor pi? still got the audacity to ask gahment to scrap the MOP and rent out their faraway flat while they stay with their in-laws? what is this?

this is crazy. just go to show that these pple don't need BTO urgently since they are staying with in-laws anyway. there is just no logic in this argument

and ask those in need to rent from them? making money from needy pple??

[neubie 2]

she can continue sleeping and dreaming.

acherly is best she & her fiance migrate elsewhere, since she is depriving the real demands of flats. it might be me, but i cant help think these Gen Y are very impractical, expect the gahment to spoonfeed them.

[rickoveron 0]

to summarize, she wants a flat cheap (ai pee) in mature towns (ai chee), otherwise, a new cheap flat in outlying area that she can rent out immediately (to people who has the same aspirations as her, no less), while she collects rent to pay for her newer cheap flat in mature town. to be crude, this is also wanting of tua liap nee.

[therat 18]

may be she don't want to marry early, that's why she set so high requirement. So that it is not her problem. When relative ask. She can reply b'coz of HDB. Standard answer. better than 10 yrs series.

may be she still looking for Mr. Right, that's why she set so high requirement to buy time.

[Warrior88 0]

This Gladys Chung must be related to one of our forumer (Happyhouse88) who ask for the MOP to be scrap. Wonder what this Gen Y is thinking ?

http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=40833

[bepgof 20]

This Gladys Chung must be related to one of our forumer (Happyhouse88) who ask for the MOP to be scrap. Wonder what this Gen Y is thinking ?

http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=40833

Ah Hia, you are qualified to be a PI liao. Another PI would-be is joining you here.

http://sg.search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=Asfi1OHqJnBsEMPr0WKaZsOCG7J_;_ylc=X1MDMjE0MjM3ODg4MgRfcgMyBGZyA3lmcC10LTcxMgRuX2dwcwMwBG9yaWdpbgNzZy55YWhvby5jb20EcXVlcnkDR2xhZHlzIENodW5nBHNhbwMw?vc=&p=Gladys+Chung&toggle=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8&fr=yfp-t-712

This Gen Y seems to be a young journalist or some sort, got 63,000 search results.

Nowadays, Gen Y dares to dream, write & speak without realising the cruelty of reality, always like to enjoy life first, want everything sweet sweet at others' expenses. Don't know what is called commitment, responsibility......sorry, i'm getting long winded.

Singapore very BIG meh? Need to spend a lot on transportation? "Less tiong" during friday nightm sat & sun will sure save them a lot of tpt $.

Want to stay near to parents? Or stay away from parents? Gen Y see parents as "eye sores", long-winded. Reality shows that they prefer to have pets than having parents, tio bo?

Matured estate = full of amenities = convienient. Want cheap yet convienient, got, Q & wait long long lor.

Want to migrate bec of "housing problem", so serious meh?, or just say say? Come to difficult time, she is the first one to run away, for sure.

Scrap MOP? So she can sell & buy, sublet. Ever think she can do that everybody also can do that then what the mkt will become, no brain yet write so much, wasting readers' precise time!

If she is really the journalist for magazines or whatever papers, she is planting the "poisons" into the youngs' minds. Only 2 words for her: "Get out"