The Public Housing Paradox in Singapore

To a large extent, Singapore’s public housing policy most clearly demonstrates the state’s unique welfare model, in which policies are carefully calibrated to achieve housing provision as well as ethnic integration and a shared sense of national identity. Public housing is developed by the government through its statutory Housing & Development Board (HDB) and sold to citizens at prevailing land and market prices with the provision of government grants. With over 80 percent of its citizen population living in public housing, and around 90 percent of these residents owning their apartments, this ‘public housing home ownership’ model has been the cornerstone of Singapore’s nation-building efforts since its independence in 1965.