Minister of National Development Khaw Boon Wan admitted that the government controls housing prices as he has an “leverage” and complete control over housing supply:
“We have leverage over the supply, and we can always adjust the supply – expand and reduce as necessary.”
Screenshot from Youtube
Minister Khaw Boon Wan was responding to media queries asking if the relaxation of income ceiling will create a greater demand for HDB flats and essentially pushing up HDB pricings. In an announcement made during the Prime Minister’s National Day Rally speech, the income ceiling for purchases of HDB and executive condominiums were relaxed so more high income Singaporeans can join in the demand.
As such, this also means that the primary reason why young Singaporeans are not able to afford a HDB flat of their own is because Minister Khaw Boon Wan has over-estimated the earning power of Singaporeans. Singaporeans who feel HDB pricing are unaffordable should direct their concerns to the Minister and pressure him to increase HDB supply further.
Minister Khaw Boon Wan dismissed speculations that this announcement is made to woo the votes of high income Singaporeans claiming that he consult Singaporeans every time before he implement his “practical” solutions:
“So that is how I approach the problems. And has it got to do with GE? I could not care less when the GE is. But problems need to be resolved… We come up with the schemes, we announce them, we discuss them with Singaporeans first, and once I’m confident that those are practical schemes, I launch them as soon as we can do so.”