Singapore HDB upgrading pace will continue despite rise in construction costs

Singapore HDB upgrading pace will continue despite rise in construction costs

By S.Ramesh,

SINGAPORE: National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said the Housing and Development Board (HDB) is containing construction costs as much as it could even though they have gone up significantly recently.

HDB is doing this by simplifying some of the projects or by combining them so that there are more economies of scale. A recent example is the Punggol Sapphire project which has more than a thousand units against the usual number of some 500 units per project.

But Mr Mah assured Singaporeans that public flats would continue to be affordable, despite the rising costs. The pace of HDB upgrading under the Main and Interim Upgrading Programmes will also not be affected by rising costs.

Mr Mah was speaking to reporters on Tuesday after an event to congratulate the HDB for winning the United Nations Public Service Award.

HDB said the award is in recognition of the Home Ownership Programme, which has successfully provided over 80 per cent of Singaporeans with affordable quality flats, of them 95 per cent own these homes.

While the challenges for public housing today may be different, they are no less formidable than those faced by the HDB when it started Singapore’s public housing programme in 1960.

HDB said flat buyers now have varying aspirations. There is also the challenge of differing income levels. So the HDB will continue to meet the housing needs of the majority as well as lower income Singaporeans.

Mr Mah said: “Someone with an income of S$1,000 to S$1,500 is eligible to rent a flat. But I would much prefer that they would own a flat, even if it is a small flat because from there, they can build a base, earn some assets and later on when they do well in life, they can upgrade.”

Mr Mah added that another challenge is to rejuvenate the older housing estates so that Singapore maintains the quality of living in these estates and the value of the flats.

But HDB’s immediate task is to tackle rising costs as the construction industry has not been spared from the global phenomenon of increasing prices of raw materials.

He said: “Raw material prices and energy prices have increased. All these are feeding through into the construction cost index for the moment. What we have to do first is to manage the costs as much as we can by simplifying some of the projects or by combining them so that there are more economies of scale, (and) by using more economical materials.”

Mr Mah said that the government is also helping to reduce the construction pressure by withholding some projects. But the minister added that the government does not expect a major delay in the completion of the two mega integrated resort projects due to rising construction costs. - CNA/vm

Source : Channel NewsAsia - 11 jun 2008

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S’pore is top Asian city with highest quality of living

S’pore is top Asian city with highest quality of living
 

SINGAPORE: Singapore has come out tops in Asia for having the highest quality of living, according to an annual survey by consulting firm Mercer.

The study was based on a number of factors including the political and social environment, medical and health considerations, public services and transportation, and housing.

Globally, Singapore is ranked 32, after climbing two spots from last year.

In Asia, Tokyo, Yokohama, Kobe and Osaka are ranked just behind Singapore.

Overall, European cities dominate the top global rankings. Zurich scores the highest for overall quality of living, retaining its number one position from 2007.

Luxembourg is tops for personal safety. At the bottom end of the scale is Baghdad, which has the lowest ranking for quality of living and personal safety. - CNA/ir

Source : Channel NewsAsia - 11 jun 2008

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18th floor of Singapore Peninsula Plaza sold for $15m

18th floor of Singapore Peninsula Plaza sold for $15m 

By Joyce Teo 
 
THE 18th floor of Peninsula Plaza near City Hall has been sold to a Taiwanese trading company for $14.9 million.
The price works out to $1,750 per sq ft (psf) of strata area. This is just below the last sale in the 999-year leasehold building - a single 1,485 sq ft office unit that went for $1,800 psf in January.

It is also well below what the seller Novelty Department Store, part of the Novelty Group, wanted - $17.5 million or $2,050 psf of strata area.

The six units have a total floor of about 8,500 sq ft and were put on the market in early March through an expression of interest exercise.

Rising rents here prompted the buyer, which has not been named, to buy the floor, said marketing agent Shaun Poh, a senior director at DTZ.

The firm will occupy two or three of the units when the tenancies expire in a few months.

The six units are tenanted at about $4 psf, but rents in the building have risen to as much as $8 psf so the firm can look forward to a better return when the time comes to renew the other leases.

The market for strata-office units has remained fairly active, considering how quiet the residential market has become.

While office rent increases have started to moderate, rents in general are still supported by demand from expanding firms and tight supply.

 
Source : Straits Times - 11 jun 2008

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Singapore Sengkang West going for a makeover as recreation hub

Singapore Sengkang West going for a makeover as recreation hub 
 
FROM ulu to cool. That’s MP Lam Pin Min’s plan for Sengkang West.
The aim is to redevelop the rustic town into a ’suburban recreational hub’.

There will be new parks, restaurants by the river and water-sport activities by next year.

He unveiled these plans for the ward at a press conference yesterday ahead of a visit to the area by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Lim Swee Say.

Mr Lim will tour the ward, which is part of Ang Mo Kio GRC, on June 22.

Sengkang West, which was formed in the run-up to the 2006 General Election, is home to about 35,000 residents but is relatively undeveloped compared to the neighbouring Sengkang areas and Punggol.

But that will change. And it will be more than just having a different image.

The changes will cater to the needs and lifestyle of residents in the ward, more than half of whom are couples in their 20s to 40s.

These will include a Sengkang sports and recreation centre, which is almost complete. It will have, among other things, swimming

pools, a sports hall, a gymnasium and dance studio.

A section of the Punggol River will be dammed so that there will be a calmer reservoir area where residents can take part in water sports activities.

A Sengkang riverside park will also be built nearby, and a waterfront deck, lined with restaurants, will overlook the river.

As water sports will be a new feature in the town plan, Dr Lam has also formed a ‘guardians group’ to look into safety issues for sports and water activities.

The group, made up of a dozen grassroots leaders, will ensure there is proper medical assistance on the ground.

Source : Straits Times - 11 jun 2008

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Singapore HDB’s challenge: low-cost housing, condo-like flats

Singapore HDB’s challenge: low-cost housing, condo-like flats
 
Board has to find ways to cater to the poor as well as those better-off, says Mah

By Fiona Chan, Property Reporter 
 
AS THE population grows and becomes more diverse, the Housing Board will have to find creative ways to keep its flats affordable for low-income families but attractive for the better-off.
As it tackles this task, one concern is rising construction costs, said National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan yesterday.

He said costs are estimated to jump a further 20 per cent this year and they could start pushing up the prices of HDB flats. ‘Construction costs have gone up significantly…HDB is trying to contain the cost as much as it can.’

These higher costs will not directly affect the selling prices of flats, as the Board prices flats at a discount to market prices rather than based on cost, Mr Mah said.

But building costs will boost the market prices of flats, so ‘there will be some feed through’ to HDB prices.

‘We cannot escape that. But the important thing is, as salaries go up and prices are fixed at a discount to the market, flats will continue to remain affordable,’ added Mr Mah, who made a special visit to the HDB Hub in Toa Payoh yesterday to congratulate staff on winning a United Nations (UN) Public Service Award.
The HDB’s 44-year-old Home Ownership Programme was honoured for improving transparency, accountability and responsiveness in the public service. HDB chairman James Koh Cher Siang and chief executive Tay Kim Poh will accept the award at a ceremony held at the UN headquarters in New York on June 23.

Mr Mah praised the agency for its success over the past 48 years in moving Singaporeans out of slums into clean and modern flats. In its first five years, HDB built 50,000 flats; now there are 900,000, housing more than 80 per cent of the population.

He also pointed out the new challenges the Board is facing, including the key issue of helping more low-income families buy a flat rather than rent one.

‘Those with income of $1,000 to $1,500 a month, although they are eligible to rent a flat, I much rather they own a flat because from there they can build a base and own some assets,’ he said.

The cheaper two-room flats the Government has been building over the past few years will be ready soon, with construction to be ramped up, he added.

For those who cannot afford to buy even the cheapest flats, HDB will make available 20 per cent more rental flats over the next three years, Mr Mah said.

On the other end of the spectrum, better-off Singaporeans should also get to enjoy the ‘HDB experience’. To this end, condo-like flats are being built under the Design, Build & Sell Scheme in areas such as Boon Keng and Bishan.

HDB also launched a new Build-To-Order project at Marsiling yesterday. Straits Vista @ Marsiling is near Woodlands Regional Centre and is the first new public housing estate in Woodlands in recent years. It will offer 50 three- room and 332 four-room flats.
Board wins UN Public Service Award
WHAT IT IS: An annual award for excellence in public service that has been given out by the United Nations since 2003. There were four winners each in three categories this year. HDB was the only Asia-Pacific winner in its category: improving transparency, accountability and responsiveness in the public service. The other two categories were improving the delivery of services and fostering participation in policy-making decisions through innovative mechanisms.

PAST AWARDS

Singapore has won the award in the past.
Progress Package, various ministries, 2007

Work Permit Online system, Ministry of Manpower, 2006

Online Business Licensing Service, Ministry of Trade and Industry, 2005

Polygon of Good Laws, Ministry of Law, 2002

National Trust Council and the Trustmark programme, Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore, 2002

 
Source : Straits Times - 11 jun 2008

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S’pore drawing more non-profit groups

S’pore drawing more non-profit groups 

Numbers up sharply as Govt woos them to set up base here

By Theresa Tan 

AFTER years of courting big businesses, Singapore is attracting international non-profit groups such as United Nations agencies and other non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
The number setting up here has doubled to more than 60 since 2005, with about 10 arriving over the past year.

They include Operation Smile, a medical group that helps children with facial deformities such as cleft palates, and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (Case), a group for professionals in communications, fund-raising, marketing and other fields.

Their causes range from fighting poverty and injustice (World Vision International), to offering consultancy services on philanthropy (Centre for Asian Philanthropy), and conservation (World Wide Fund for Nature).

Singapore is attractive to such groups because of its location, excellent infrastructure and large number of multinational companies (MNCs) based here.

The WWF, for instance, said the presence of thousands of MNCs here puts the organisation ‘in a unique position to influence corporations and their sustainability practices’.
Said Mr Gary Loh, chairman of Operation Smile Singapore: ‘Singapore has more than money to give. We have very strong medical expertise and facilities.’

To draw even more such groups, a one-stop office comprising different government agencies and led by the Economic Development Board was set up in February. Singapore also offers incentives such as tax exemptions.

The Government’s push to woo these groups marks a change from the past when Singapore ‘didn’t know what to do with such groups’, said EDB’s director of new business group, Mr Jonathan Kua.

‘It’s not like we didn’t welcome such organisations back then, but they were not our focus,’ he said.

This changed as Singapore’s focus on practical economic considerations widened in recent years.

‘Our main goal in attracting such groups is not economic,’ said Mr Kua. ‘We want credibility as a world-class city. And as we develop, it’s always the intangibles like quality of life, arts and civil society that attract people.’

Mr Gerard Ee, chairman of the National Kidney Foundation, said local charities will be able to learn from the international groups’ global experience and best practices.

But there are direct benefits for Singaporeans as more such groups arrive - more jobs, for one.

The EDB hopes to attract at least 150 such groups by 2015, and that will create 2,500 jobs.

There will also be indirect spin-offs for the economy, such as spending by people who attend meetings organised here by these groups.

When asked about the fiery brand of activism that some groups are known for, Mr Kua said: ‘The NGOs that come here are very practical, so we are not too worried about activism.’

 Diverse organisations
ASIDE from World Vision International, Operation Smile, Centre for Asian Philanthropy and the World Wide Fund for Nature, these are some of the groups that have set up here:

World Intellectual Property Organisation: A UN agency which aims to develop intellectual property rights as a tool for economic growth.

Regional Emerging Disease Intervention Centre: Set up by the Singapore and US governments, it aims to enhance the region’s capability and capacity to deal with emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases such as avian influenza and Sars.

Volans Ventures: An organisation which helps social entrepreneurs by linking them with funds and other resources.

 
Source : Straits Times - 11 jun 2008

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BroadcastAsia looks to cut US$1.8b in deals: organiser - Singapore

BroadcastAsia looks to cut US$1.8b in deals: organiser - Singapore

By ONG BOON KIAT
SOME 68,000 projected visitors to BroadcastAsia 2008 could spend US$1.8 billion cutting deals related to the show, according to Stephen Tan, chief executive of Singapore Exhibition Services, the company organising the event.

Eye-catching showcase: BroadcastAsia is held in conjunction with CommunicAsia, its sister event which focuses on information and communications technology 
Speaking at a news conference yesterday, Mr Tan said the figure was collated from questionnaires answered by visitors who have registered for the show. ‘This is from pre-registered visitors who tell us that they are coming with a budget to spend,’ he said.

‘Not all (attendees) answered, but for the numbers we collated, the sourcing budget for this year’s BroadcastAsia is US$1.8 billion,’ said Mr Tan.

In its 13th year now, BroadcastAsia is an annual pan-Asian exhibition and conference event catering to broadcasters, production companies, content owners and developers. The event is held in conjunction with CommunicAsia, its sister event which focuses on information and communications technology. Both events will be held next week from 17 to 20 June at the Singapore Expo.

On the projected sourcing budget for this year’s event, Mr Tan emphasised that the figure should only be seen as a guide. ‘It is impossible for us to keep tabs on the amount of deals made. Often, more of the deals are done in the weeks and months afterwards,’ he said.

Another eye-catching statistic in this year’s show is the size of the Singapore country pavilion, led by the Media Development Authority (MDA). With 50 local companies showcasing their high-tech wares in a 1,200 square metre pavilion, it is the largest-ever assembly of local companies for this event. Last year’s pavilion had 41 companies, while in 2004, 10 firms participated, according to the MDA.

Among those flying the Singapore flag will be AV8 Media, MediaCorp, G Element, MXR Corporation, QMax Communications, Innoxius Technologies, PGK Media and Rediffusion.

‘The local barometer is actually quite important … because it gives you a sense of what’s happening within the country,’ Christopher Chia, chief executive of the MDA, said yesterday. ‘The Singapore Pavilion captures MDA’s vision to grow a vibrant media hub and create a conducive environment for the test-bedding of innovative applications, services and technologies,’ he said. The MDA wants to ‘attract more broadcasters and industry players to use Singapore as a launch pad to regionalise their businesses’.

One highlight of the event will be Japanese broadcaster NHK’s Super Hi-Vision (SHV) showcase. This futuristic ultra-high definition TV broadcast platform boasts a video resolution 16 times that of today’s high-definition TV (HDTV).

 
Source : Business Times - 11 jun 2008

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Singapore HDB pricing policy limits impact of rising costs

Singapore HDB pricing policy limits impact of rising costs

Board trying to contain cost by simplifying some projects
By EMILYN YAP
CONSTRUCTION costs for Housing & Development Board (HDB) flats have increased but the impact on buyers is likely to be limited, due to HDB’s pricing policy and cost-control measures.

Mr Mah: For new flats, higher costs will probably feed through indirectly as market price of flats goes up 
Speaking to the media at HDB yesterday, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said that ‘construction costs have gone up significantly both for the building of private as well as public housing’. According to him, construction costs may have risen 20 to 30 per cent in general.

‘HDB is trying to contain the cost as much as it can,’ he added. One way is to simplify some of its projects. The government is also withholding some projects to ease pressures on the construction sector.

Asked how much of the increase in construction costs would go to buyers, he said that ‘for new flats, it should not feed directly through to the buyers, but it will probably feed through indirectly as the market price of flats goes up’.

In a forum reply last year, HDB mentioned that the prices of new flats are based on the market prices of resale HDB flats, not on construction costs. ‘In order to provide affordable housing to Singaporean families, new HDB flats are priced below their equivalent market values,’ said the reply.

Mr Mah assured that the prices of public housing will remain affordable.

The squeeze in the construction sector is not likely to delay the integrated resort projects. Progress is ‘on track’, he said.

Mr Mah also expects demand for HDB flats to strengthen if Singapore’s population grows as it has over the last few years. ‘We are monitoring the situation, and as the demand grows, we are also increasing the supply.’

He pointed out, however, that ‘we must also always be careful that we do not overbuild.’

HDB yesterday launched 382 flats for sale at Straits Vista @ Marsiling under the Build-To-Order (BTO) system. The first HDB project in Woodlands town in recent years, Straits Vista forms part of the total BTO supply of 8,400 units planned for this year. The project will comprise 50 three-room units with an indicative price range of $116,000 to $164,000, and 332 four-room units from $184,000 to $257,000.

HDB will receive the United Nations Public Service Award for its home ownership programme on June 23 and Mr Mah was at the agency to celebrate the win. There are more than 800,000 HDB flats in Singapore, housing more than 80 per cent of the resident population. About 95 per cent of HDB households own their homes.

Source : Business Times - 11 jun 2008

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New budget for SICC clubhouse gets go-ahead - Singapore

New budget for SICC clubhouse gets go-ahead - Singapore

By LEE U-WEN
(SINGAPORE) Members of the Singapore Island Country Club (SICC) have voted in favour of a new $90.3 million budget to build a new, ultra-modern clubhouse.

Getting the green light: Artist’s impression of the new clubhouse. Work on the ultra-modern clubhouse started last September and is expected to be completed by mid-2010 
This figure is a shade over 50 per cent more than the original $60 million budget - approved in April 2007 - to build the 25,000 square metre facility at the club’s Upper Thomson Road location.

The management had announced to all 7,500 SICC members last month that it had to revise the budget upwards because of soaring construction costs due to a shortage of building material and manpower. At an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) last night, 159 of 257 members - about 62 per cent - gave the go-ahead for a revised project cost of $81.1 million.

In a separate resolution, 137 out of 263 members who cast their vote said yes to an additional $9.2 million for improvements to architectural and mechanical and engineering works.

When added up, the total estimated cost of the new clubhouse stands at $90.3 million. This far exceeds the 5 per cent contingency that was set aside earlier.

Work on the clubhouse - which will contain a spa, wellness centre and restaurants, among other facilities - began last September and is expected to be ready by mid-2010. In a circular dated May 23, the SICC assured members that the project was still on target to be completed on time.

But not everything went the management’s way at the EGM. Members gave plans for two separate enhancements - to build 30 residential guest suites and 130 more car park lots, costing a total of just over $16.6 million - the thumbs-down.

Just 68 out of 262 members were in favour of the guest suites, while 150 out of 261 members said no to the extended car park space.

One member, speaking on condition of anonymity, told BT that he felt that spending more than $8 million on the guest suites was ‘lavish and unnecessary’ in this current period of belt-tightening.

In all, the total upgrading costs of the clubhouse and other additional enhancements will come up to $97.8 million. When contacted by BT, SICC declined to give its thoughts on the voting results.

Its general committee issued a short press statement yesterday evening which only recapped the various resolutions that were passed by the members.

But even as SICC prepares to dig deeper into its reserves of $420 million - the latest figure as of June 30 this year - its president John Kirkham informed members last Friday that the monthly subscription fees would go up by between $10 and $20 from Aug 1 this year.

‘The additional revenue arising from this fee revision does not cover fully the increase in costs, and the club will continue to operate with a deficit,’ wrote Mr Kirkham.

Besides Upper Thomson Road, SICC has another location at Sime Road. The current transferable membership price is $205,000.

Source : Business Times - 11 jun 2008

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