From universal public housing to meeting the increasing aspiration for private housing in Singapore

Housing offers varied levels of satisfaction and has a social representation that motivates household mobility. Housing also tests the state's vigour in managing basic welfare provision as well as aspirations for improved quality and status when the middle classes rise in numbers who increasingly reject public housing as a mass-produced consumer good. This higher-end private housing demand has exerted pressure on the developmental state of Singapore to facilitate access as a negotiating term for their continued political support. A questionnaire survey was conducted which confirmed the general attitude of housing owners who aspire after private housing. The paper discusses the rationale underlying Singapore's housing policy since 1960. It investigates specifically why an effective public housing promotion has to be met with private housing, perceived as better in quality and higher in status, despite continued state efforts to upgrade public housing quality. A price spiral in the early 1990s has however made affordability beyond reach for many. Future plans in satisfying aspirations for private properties have to face difficulties such as high prices, a small and fixed land, supply and the competing use of the Central Provident Fund as a chief financing source. A more viable way, perhaps, is by narrowing the gaps including the tenure rights between public and private housing. This is currently under study by the government. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.