Housing and Development Board - History

History

Shortly after being granted self-governance, Singapore faced a serious problem of housing shortages; a prewar housing shortage had already existed, but low construction rates and massive damage from World War II further exacerbated the housing shortage. In 1947, the British Housing Committee Report noted Singapore had "one of the world’s worst slums -- ‘a disgrace to a civilised community'" and the average person per building density was 18.2 by 1947 and high-rise buildings were rare. In 1959, the problem of shortage still remained a serious problem. An HDB paper estimated that in 1966, 300,000 people lived in squatter settlements in the suburbs and 250,000 lived in squalid shophouses in the Central Area. In its election campaign in 1959, the People's Action Party (PAP) recognized that housing require urgent attention and pledged that it would provide low-cost housing for the poor if it was selected; when it won the elections and formed the newly elected government, it took immediate action to solve the housing shortage. The government passed the Housing and Development Act of 1960 which replaced the existing Singapore Improvement Trust with the Housing and Development Board.

Led by Lim Kim San, its first priority during formation was to build as many low-cost housing units as possible, and the Five-Year Plan was introduced. The housing that was initially built was mostly meant for rental by the low income group. The Home Ownership for the People Scheme was also introduced to help this group of people to buy instead of rent their flats. While the new scheme acted as a hedge against inflation, it provided financial security to home owners. Later, the people were allowed to use their Central Provident Fund money for down payment. These efforts were however not successful enough then in convincing the people living in the squatter settlements to move into these flats. It was only later, after the Bukit Ho Swee Fire in 1961, that HDB's efficiency and earnestness won the people over.

The HDB estimated that from 1960 to 1969, an average of 147000 housing units -- 80,000 from the current deficit, 20000 due to the redevelopment of the Central Area, and 47000 due to population increase -- would need to be constructed; an average of about 14000 a year. However the private sector only had the ability to provide 2500 per year, and at price levels out of reach of the low-income. As many as 54,430 housing units were built between 1960 and 1965 by the HDB. Due to land constraints, high-rise and high-density flats were chosen.

The policies of the HDB were largely in line of the manifesto set out by the Singapore government; the government was promoting social cohesion and patriotism within the country. In 1968, citizens were allowed to use their pension fund (Central Provident Fund) to purchase and own the homes they were renting to give them a stake of the country and as an incentive to work hard. In 1980, a quota was introduced to ensure that no particular racial group concentrated together to prevent sectarianism. To prevent social stratification that may lead to social conflict, the housing of different income groups are mixed together in estates and new towns.

In the 1990s, the HDB concentrated on the upgrading of existing older flats, installing new facilities such as lifts that stop on every floor. Studio apartments were built specially to suit the needs of senior citizens in Singapore's aging society. However, some of these flats were quickly bought up by young working singles.

On 1 July 2003, the Building & Development Division of HDB was corporatised to form HDB Corporation Pte. Ltd. (HDBCorp in short). HDBCorp was later renamed as Surbana Corporation Pte. Ltd. HDB's headquarters were previously located at Bukit Merah, were moved to their new premises at the HDB Hub at 480 Lorong 6 Toa Payoh on 10 June 2002.

The existing Bukit Merah premises, known as Surbana One, became the headquarters for Surbana Corporation Pte. Ltd.