Don Soh: "My son tried 7 times to apply for a BTO but failed each time. The documentation fees is a paltry $10 for each application. I am not bringing this up as a small token of money but the principle behind it. Every time, my Son was filled with anxiety and expectations at each application. As he looked at the numbers of applicants and the availability of flats, he was optimistic. But each time before his date of appointment for selection, the flats were all taken up and he did not even has a chance.
Yesterday I read the news of BTO offered at various locations. The total number of flats available was about 8000 units ( I round off the figure) and the total applications was 18,000. Look at the figure of 10,000 people who will not be successful and multiply it by the miserable $10, it is $100,000. Is HDB being fair to those who did not have a chance to choose a unit ? Is this the cost of administration for this BTO ( 18000 x $10 = $180,000).
To be fair, the unsuccessful applicant who did not even has a chance to select an unit should be spared and that $10 maybe kept for the next BTO exercise when the applicant try again. I am sure HDB is not “hard up” for $10 to make for its administration service.
If the administration costs is higher than maybe they should make the successful applicant pay a higher amount ( but not those who failed).
It is already frustrating that each time you fail (as worse as buying lottery)"
Those who claim housing in Singapore is affordable like to point to the parallel market to argue that for Singaporeans, property is affordable.
For example, take the statistics that "Singapore’s affordability ratio of median property price to median annual income is 13.7 for private property and 4.5 to 4.7 for public housing".
However, even ignoring things like the 99 year lease (which also applies to many or most private property), just looking at the lower sticker price of public housing is misleading. Beyond restrictions like marital status, race and/or age, there is a very important factor of time.
Beyond the example above, I have a friend took over 10 years to get his BTO - 4 years for the balloting stage and 6 for the building stage (and it'd probably have taken even longer if he had not married a minority).
Singaporeans pay for their "affordable" public housing not least with time.
