How Singapore Solved Housing 

Honestly as a singaporean, my biggest blessings (and curses) are that growing up, I never knew what tax and visa was because I’ve never had to apply for a travel visa or pay tax for anything I bought. I never feared staying out late as a women or experienced natural disasters or even thought about government corruption. Of course Singapore isn’t perfect, but I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.

This should be a series "How (country) X Solved Y"

this amazes me two fold: that their government has to have such low level of corruption to pull that off, and that their leaders had so much foresight.

I'm 54 and my wife and I are VERY worried about our future, gas and food prices rising daily. We have had our savings dwindle with the cost of living into the stratosphere, and we are finding it impossible to replace them. We can get by, but can't seem to get ahead. My condolences to anyone retiring in this crisis, 30 years nonstop just for a crooked system to take all you worked for.

Hong Kong: wait you guys are getting houses?

As a Singaporean, it makes me super proud to know that our government has done something considered impossible to the rest of the world. I am super proud of how far we had come, but where we are going to go still is a huge question. FYI, every five years, we repaint every single HDB in different colours, which is chosen via poll by that HDB's residents. It's always a fresh look and keeps the community excited about their own home

One additional information to add, although the lease of an HDB is 99 years, a clause in HDB terms and conditions stated that if the flat owner live beyond the years of the lease, he/she will be able to live in the flat until he/she pass on, even if the lease has expired.

Citizens in Stockholm: "Wait? You can build homes on top of each other?"

I love my 4-room flat. We are located next to a school, right across a MRT train station, food courts, shops, market, clinics, fast foods... Both my husband and I don't even own driving licenses (nor feel the need to) since the MRT station is located just across the road from us. And yes, I love how safe Singapore is. I'm a female and I used to roam around my neighborhood at like 3am in the middle of the night to catch pokemons. lol.

I am honesty surprised how well researched this video is. Most videos I seen about Singapore are way off. You even capture many of the real social issues that you will probably need local context and talking to actual locals to understand. Definitely going to hit the bell and subscribed!

NGL, as a Singaporean, I did not realize how brutal HDB was in the 1990s. Like I believe it was an accident that a slum burnt down but immediately moving in to have a policy that lets them scoop up burnt land is incredibly efficient in the most iron fist way.

Ngl, Singapore is what happens when a government actually prioritizes the needs of the residents. Lee Kuan Yew wanted Singapore to succeed. It seems like most governments today just do as they please, while giving their residents just enough so that they don't revolt.

This guy knows more about my country than me, who lived in the country for over 20 years

Dang, he even got that proposal “will you buy a house with me?” inside “joke”

We need to learn from this. I lived in Singapore for 4 years in the eighties. The flats I visited were small, but they were treated with such pride and respect by the residents. Their homes were lovely and their hospitality second to none. I went to ATT Secretarial school, which was in Tanglin then. Let down by the English comprehensive system, it was in Singapore that I learned how to learn! The patience of my tutors was endless. Thank you Singapore. You impacted my life for the good.

I sold a couple properties in 2020 and I'm waiting for a house crash to happen so I buy cheap. In the meantime, I've been looking at stocks as an alt., any idea if it's a good time to buy? I hear people say it's a madhouse and a dead cat bounce right now but on the other hand, I still see and read articles of people pulling over $225k by the weeks in trades, how come?

No joke, the HDB is secretly one of the biggest reasons behind Singapore's success as a nation

PolyMatter: Singapore China: Phew I get a break

Singapore is something of a special case in modern history and should not be idealized. However, credit should go where credit is due. This way of organizing a housing system is incredibly admirable and efficient.

"Will you marry me?" has been replaced with "Can we buy a house together?" -SINGAPORE

As someone with family living in singapore (public housing and detached houses), I can atest that their public housing has the best access to public transit, malls, libraries, hospitals, and some right next to beaches.

Singapore's success is very very hard to replicate. It requires a strong authoritarian government yet cares for the benefit of the people, the sheer size of the nation is also a critical issue. Singapore is a city nation which allows the central government to pose very strong control across the country, which is imaginable in other countries. That is why China did try to learn from Singapore, but failed.

I think the idea that housing is for living rather than for "investment" is a really good idea. Single people should not be discriminated against, but respecting people's need for accommodation is paramount. Singapore has always been a bit controlling with regards to cleanliness and litter and hair length, but I do think we could take a few lessons from here.

This video makes me cry. In my country (NZ), homelessness is up over 300% since 2017. Per capita, you have to go back to 1948 for when there was less public homes in the country. House prices and rent inflation is out of control and people are finding it harder and harder to make ends meet. I wish we were as smart as Singapore where they've perfectly mixed the private and public sector.

Tbh if Singapore just let the market control housing, it would have ended up like HK.

In Vienna, most people live in government-owned flats, too. In Stockholm, apartment leases are given out centrally, but they are owned by private companies. It might be interesting to do a more in-depth comparison of all these policies!

Summary: HBD is a government policy that indirectly replaces Singaporean pensions and substitutes it with a real estate asset, the value of which is determined by your ethnicity, family size, and lifestyle. It also prevents the real estate market from being subjected to the free market, therefore making it less volatile and risky and giving a secure future to both the entering and retiring working class. Simply put, they mastered the art of incentivizing turnover. Educate me if I’m wrong or missing something. 🙂

Singapore's governance and leadership never ceases to amaze. It's not perfect, as no human construct is perfect, but it has proven itself monumentally successful in its role of facilitating a good life for its people. I hope it continues, even if its political parties change. The comforts that generations of labor and effort built for the future shouldn't be taken for granted.

Singaporean here. The hypothetical city mentioned at 1:47 where housing is so prohibitively expensive that adult children are forced to live with their parents IS essentially what has happened here. Applying for HDB housing requires you to be either married, or be 35 years old and have another 35yo roommate to move in with, and private housing/rentals are just too expensive. With many of the societal problems/shifts the youth are facing (marrying early for the sake of housing is a truly depressing thought), it is overwhelmingly common and actually part of the culture to live with your parents well into adulthood. Obviously there are many many more societal problems that aren't covered by the scope of this video, but the line "It's no coincidence that the party that meticulously designed Singapore receives the vast majority of its votes" pretty much sums it up.

As a young, single Singaporean working adult, I appreciate how you pointed out the idea that our housing policy is indeed a social policy and to an extent, a political one as well. I do feel trapped at times by the fact that I can’t buy my own property unless I get married or turn 35. PAP’s policies have served us well for the past 55 years but I feel that as times change, the zeitgeist and values of Singaporeans changes as well. This means that our social policy has to evolve in sync with modern values and aspirations instead of being overly paternalistic.

Soviet Era blocks actually had a ton of great urban planning. They were walkable, included a lot of greenery, there were shops and playgrounds as well as schools nearby. Yes they aged badly and were not pretty to look at and post transformation they became worse but they are still way better than 90% of modern development in terms of planning.

The nature of housing is thus a place to live, not an investment. Mind blowing

It's so funny, I just watched a video by the Economist where they cited that same stat, didn't elaborate on how it was actually measured. It didn't really impact the video's final message, but it's funny to me how an independent creator is more thorough than the Economist 🤟

I see Singapore inherited the UK's habit of having 99-year loans

Wow this is an amazingly nuanced and considered piece of analysis. Great stuff. Usually these videos abt Singapore are woefully biased - either as a cheerleader for current policies or to play up authoritarian tropes. But this has such a fine level of nuance and understanding of local sociopolitical and cultural dynamics. Really great stuff.

My husband is from Singapore, I visited and all I can say is it is such a well run country! The economists are brillant

As a Singaporean, I approve.

That approach to requiring an even distribution of ethnicity is effing brilliant. I can see why a lot of people would react to that as being a method to subdue races, but truthfully, it forces more integration. Actually getting to know a person does wonders to reduce racism. If people of a given race are actually part of your community and not some distant idea you just see on TV, it becomes much harder to casually dismiss them.

Yep , im from malaysia but my grandparents are living there , we have a couple of our relatives residing in singapore and half of them scattered around malaysia , i really love Singapore's housing , and the fact that they repaint their colors every 5 years makes me excited when im going back to visit my relatives .

Thus far the most detailed explanation on Singapore's housing on RU-vid. Thanks for the effort !

"a house is a place to live in not an investment" meanwhile in my country they are getting a lot of house for investment

Singapore is fascinating as in every other country a government with such extensive power would just devolve into an autocracy or even dictatorship. The leader would rule for decades and drive Ferrari's around the highways built for that reason only. Instead we have a technocratic state that prioritised launching Singapore into the future by lifting it's citizens out of poverty. It really is a fascinating case study.

I'm so Americanized that I can't comprehend a government that wants to raise the quality of living and gets the job done right the first time.

Singapore model proves free market is not the only way to success. If fact free market housing only leads to instabilities.

just wanna say as a Singaporean, you really balanced this video on the realities of implementing it. I really admire that, great job

10:56 that’s how my dad proposed to my mum

great well rounded video! love the counter arguments present too

I knew most of this before from social studies class, but you were able to arrange it so well in a video. good job man, I enjoyed this video a lot

You should say that Singapore also has private housing, or else everyone not from Singapore would think that the only choice and kind of housing is public

great research! adding another info tidbit --- what happens at 99 years -- what really happens is apartments are bought back by HDB usually less than 50 years old, to rebuild into new ones. homeowners are usually happy and look forward to sell back to HDB at market rates and given priority to pick new flats first.

I lived in Singapore for a year and I wish my home country was like that… I lived in other countries for about 2 years each, and I would say no other country is like Singapore. It’s a model country.

Imagine this mindset throughout the whole world. Housing is essential, not a luxury

PolyMatter: "The nature of housing is thus a place to live..." Landlords: (clutches chest in pain)

As a Singaporean, I love that I have a safe roof over my head that i call home. I love that as a woman, i can walk alone at night and still feel safe. I also love that i have equal opportunity like anybody else, as long as i am willing to work hard and improve myself from time to time. These to me, are true freedom. And we are very, very fortunate that we have a government that actually cares about its people and not just for its own personal interests (as compared to many other countries). PS. I'm truly impressed by the extent of information you have gathered and put into this video. Kudos to the team!

Man, this infrastructure is unbelievable! I’m from Canada and we have a housing market crisis

As a somewhat conservative American, I generally do not believe in centralized planning and socialized housing due to it's complete failure here in the U.S. and many other countries. Singapore is a remarkable exception! I first visited Singapore briefly in about 1980. I was there again in about 1998. The transformation was absolutely stunning! I have never been in such a clean, crime-free, well ordered society. I met people who were Chinese, Malay, Indian, as well as mixed race. I did not sense any animosity between ethnic groups. Yes, there were lots of rules, fines, sin taxes, restrictions, and severe penalties for criminals that few Americans would be willing to tolerate. However, when I compare Singapore to America, I think one can make a very strong argument for the many huge advantages of the Singaporean model of society. In America, we 'think' we cherish freedom. But when that freedom includes high crime rates, out-of-control drugs use and homelessness, and constant political bickering that even turns violent, is that really freedom? I think the United States could learn a few lessons from Singapore!

Hi I would like to point out that the the third “this” is in fact, not public housing and actually a private condominium but the other two are!!

Looks like after trolling him endlessly on his china vids he actually listened

This is a good way to do it in a small place but where significant development needs to take place it would not work until it was better developed. But eventually many countries will need to adopt the same model. When landlords are not a class and have to force their energy into developing something useful like new products, new services and patents the economy will really improve.

To be fair though, Soviet era commie blocks are pretty good. They are cheap to build, versatile, easy to implement, a lot easier to plan, and are efficient. The only thing is that they don't look that good, but that can be fixed.

1. Before you generalise this to other countries (and I'm speaking particularly to those that have an apriori infatuation with government handing out aid to every person and their dog), do realise that Singapore is a spectacular economic exception built upon incredibly strategic geography, small size, a conforming society, and highly productive citizens. This is not most countries. 2. That being said, while it is ridiculous to assume that a federal government could possibly ever get something as intricate as this scheme right, it is possible that the municipal government's of larger cities (such as New York, LA, Sydney, London, Toronto, etc.) could embark on these projects and succeed. These projects require two things - high income government and local government supremacy (the more local the government, the more immedietley accountable it is, and the better it can manage the project). In other words, only governments large enough to have wealth but small enough to be effective - ie. Medium to large sized municipal governments - can do this. We need to care more about local government.

Holy shit. He even got the "BTO aimai" joke lol

Well balanced video with views from both side! You guys have clearly done your research, good job guys! (From a singaporean)

Subcribed.. So many points of view. For sure, I will scan for past episodes in some spare time :)

Singapore is the most awesome place I've ever been to. The people are so friendly whenever I'm asking for help. The food is just incredible and extremely cheap at Hawker Centers ($2-$4). Not to mention Ride Sharing (Like Uber, but it's called Grab) is dirt cheap too I'm trying to upload more Singapore videos on my channel. Such an amazing country guy!!!

Socialism or Capitalism ? Singapore: Both

this video is very well-written, arranged, and factually detailed. It's an art is some kind of way. Well doneee

I have visited Singapore many times! this country is really a role model for all nations of the world irrespective of size. The size issue has been used by economists and development specialists to malign some of the most outstanding achievements of PAP Led by Lee Kuan Yew, who in my opinion was a true king philosopher. Singapore is both small and efficient! But, its small size should not be used to downgrade its phenomenal growth in economic and anthropological terms!! If it's hard to turn around a large state, it is equally complex and hard to turn a smaller nation such as a City-State like Singapore into a first-world oasis in the 3rd world. Well Done Late Lee Kuan Yew. RIP KING PHILOSOPHER.

"The Singapore Improvement Trust" I guess the "The Singapore Housing Improvement Trust" didn't manage to slip through.

"A disproportionate number of charismatic smart leaders" Accurate.

Very well researched video. A nice touch that you picked up the local joke about "will you buy a flat with me" as a form of marriage proposal. Definitely true! I'm happily living in my parents' 30 year old 5-room flat rent-free. This would be a stigma in other countries where you'd be expected to move out by the time you're an adult, but it's the norm here since most young adults aren't expected to be able to afford a home until marriage.

Your channel definitely deserves my subs!

very impressive and detailed research, can't imagine the hours spent for research and coming up with this video. Honestly many Singaporeans won't bother knowing how HDB has evolved. There are many penned up frustrations with the overall social system. Seems like a joke to others that younger couples get married to buy a house... But it's true... that said, the housing policies from how it started was indeed a successful model in meeting needs.

6:40 let's completely mess up the Singapore MRT/LRT system colours and names

Without reading most of the comments, I can already guess some will be complaining about the 99 year lease on HDBs. And without even going into the intricates, just for a moment, think, with your brain, what will happen in 50 years time if people can own it indefinitely. And also, use some common sense and start thinking, how safe will buildings be, even if it is build to be the best, after 100 years? These are things you don't need a phd in economics and civil engineering, to understand

This is especially impressive if you consider how crowded Singapore's population is. It's literally an island smaller than San Diego, yet home to a population 4 times as large. Without the same housing crisis and homelessness problem.

0:40 that is not public housing; that is a private condominium complex designed by world-renowned architect Moshe Safdie (look up Sky Habitat Singapore)

It feels so surreal seeing one of your favourite RU-vidrs mentioning Sengkang LRT when I literally live next to it.

My eyebrows were raised the whole video through. Extremely impressive stuff

Very thorough and balanced analysis, well done!

One thing I don't get people making noise about ownership especially regarding home ownership in Singapore. Singapore have limited land and that itself is a challenge. If everyone owns a house, it will be a matter of time the new generation will not about to buy any house at all with a highly inflated price controlled by private. The 99 years lease makes sense and it long enough to have 3 generation to stay in the same flat before things starts to decay and breakdown. By logic, it will be when the Government tearing the house down and rebuilding the new one back up with better design and better use of the land. Yes, housing have been slowly becoming more expensive in Singapore and it's expected as raw material price and labor cost increase, so will the housing and in which the same problem comes back to people are unable to buy houses which is why Singapore Government comes out with ways to leverage those burden to lighten the load. The joke on married couple gets priority on house is true and it's a running job in Singapore, rather then "Lets get a wedding ring" it will be "Lets go sign a BTO(Build To Order) flat" but it makes sense as they are people who will grow and groom the next generation of Singapore Citizen. No system is perfect and in my opinion, absolute political power in Singapore is something I find it very troubling in Singapore as a Singaporean.

I lived in Singapore for almost two years when I was a kid, and for the first year or so my family lived in two separate condos and I remember them being really nice and fun. There were restaurants on the bottom floor and a pool.

Really wish we had something like this in Australia, while we have considerably more land, the housing prices here are out of control.

You did an excellent analysis. I live here and can attest to most of this video. As Singapore transitions to a developed nation, the issues of how much public housing become a tool for society control have become more relevant.

My VPN: *connected to Singapore marina bay Me: *watches Singapore video

Its nice to note that if you default on your bank loans or go bankrupt the bank cannot seize your house as it is legally protected by the HDB.

This video is quite spot on. Good job!

I visited Singapore a couple weeks ago. Such a lovely place.

Actually there were some 30 years and 60 years leases that have expired and the government took back the properties and shifted the residences elsewhere.

6:23 Fun fact: This "new towns" zoning system is used only for urban planning & public housing *construction* . Public housing *maintenance* & social services on the other hand is handled by town & community development councils (TCs & CDCs), which are organised according to the country's electoral map instead, which also changes before every election (so you can end up with geographical paradoxes e.g. the geographically north-eastern town/suburb of Serangoon is under South East CDC, as it's under the Marine Parade constituency, which also covers the namesake south-eastern town). Meanwhile private housing is organised based on a yet _another_ zoning system - the 28 postal districts that also formed the basis for the country's 4-digit postal codes (used from the early 1980s-1995; since then the postal districts have been reformed into 82 postal sectors instead)

Very good research and presentation.

Awesome content, thanks mate!!

It is one level to research the topic. And another level to make a cohesive video. You are working really hard. Take a bow.

Wow, the amount of research and thought gone into the breakdown and explanation of this video almost makes me feel like you're a citizen of Singapore as well. Kudos.

Dear Polymatter, thank you for this video on my home country. I would like to highlight an error in the video, the building shown at 0:39 is not a government flat, but a private condominium. As much as I like that Singapore's public housing is being shown off, we need to be honest on what is and isn't public housing. Thank you!

Singaporean here: What a lot of Singaporeans and Foreigners don't realise is that the SG government isnt managnimous, neither do they 'truly' care. They just practice Egoistic Altruism. What sets our authoritarian regimes apart from other dictatorial government is: they are smart enough to realise, it is in their own benefit to give their citizens (aka human resources) a higher living standard. Government corruption also takes place here. The key difference here is that they are transparent and takes a different form. Traditional corruption usually have the government stealing money or keeping it away from the citizens. If our government cared for the immediate gains and took everything for themselves, they'll end up being like N.korea and certain African countries. However if said money is invested in citizens, these resources will now be better equipped to generate larger income, then the government can squeeze even more out from their citizens (which is also why our prime minister earns the most in the world at $1.7mil usd a year). Anyone in the right mind would call this out as corruption etc, but this was his legal and open salary. With so much power and money, the best way to earn more money legally while having the support of the citizens is to make each citizen able to earn more (thus they can earn more as a government), while making sure they remove any possibility of complain. We literally can't complain much about the ineffectiveness of our government, because they are effective. They are investing, and also running the country like a company. Its not so much about actual care and concern other than: "its the best for everyone" Unlike the west where which crazes after (what i would call extreme/borderline anarchistic) freedom and the east (what i would call extreme/totalitarian) order, singapore lies somewhere in the center. We are granted pretty much freedom to do what we want... But we have quite a lot of laws and regulations to never do some stuff. To the west, we seem almost indistinguishable to an authoritarian country, and to the east, we are radical liberals. Thing is, we just take compromise. Tldr: Game theory dictates its in both parties' (state and citizen) to improve each other's life and not take the advantage of each other. The government recognise this and enforces it stringently. But that's okay, it works, until maybe some other better form of government appears. This has been human history and will be human history.

Singaporean here! Love that we're getting some love on RU-vid!!

I too lived in Singapore like for 8 years, and let me tell you, I stayed in these public houses(named HDB's there) and there are the most spacious rooms ever

I live in Australia, and we have worries about public housing, because there isn't enough of it. I wish we could implement some of these rules here. a) I think "government ownership" is an interesting term. And important. If you could own your house, but the government could create waves of upgrades with different levels of compliances required, that would be neat. The buying and swapping of houses and owning one property is also pretty neat. Like, the government owns all the land. You can buy your land from its last holder, but the government can up living standard requirements, forcing you to accept and invest in certain things. It could also, for instance, ask to increase home level, insert new safety measures, but you would be allowed to say no to some degree, and it would have to be affordable. If you brought your home from the government, or from the prior owner, you could customise it as you liked, and hand it over. If you were "renting" from the government, you could only customise non-permanently. Having it so you could only own one property means you either pay a prior own as they move somewhere else, or you pay the government, or sell to the government when you move somewhere else. The government could even do deals or swaps, like, one room for another. Having certain room types or house types means you could take a property, measure it, and the label and cost it equally with other properties, so more was paid for more land, and less for less. b) I find the idea of the "will you buy a house with me" partner subsidy so interesting. Along with racial divisions. I live in the middle of nowhere. As long as governments kept track on it, and made sure to make it publicly known, it might be okay. And to have a certain leniency to some but not all. I don't think I would mind, especially with the rail systems and others living close enough. They'd also have to measure population to keep the percentages equal. And they would have to make branches happen, so that families had options of staying close. Tricky, but the whole thing could be very rewarding if done right. A good idea to explore and tinker with. Well stated.

Singapore is like a fantasy where the government is effective and has the people's interests at heart