Speech by Minister Desmond Lee at HDB Awards Ceremony 2023
Oct 16, 2023
Introduction
1. Thank you, Meng Dui. Good evening to our Board members, partners, colleagues and friends. I am delighted to join you at the HDB Awards Ceremony.
2. Congratulations to all the consultants and builders winning awards tonight. Projects cannot win awards on their own. They win awards because of the people’s drive for innovation, to pursue the imagination needed to achieve excellence in all the projects awarded this event.
3. Thank you for partnering us in raising the bar for construction quality, design, and engineering excellence in our public housing.
Delivering Quality Homes in Close Partnership with Our Industry Partners
4. This requires the hard work of our builders, consultants, and many others in the sector.
5. The past three years had been exceptionally challenging for everyone. On the one hand, we had to ramp up our building programme to meet a broad-based increase in housing demand. On the other hand, we had to cope with serious construction delays and unprecedented supply disruptions due to the pandemic.
6. Whilst we are not entirely out of the woods yet, as a sector, we have pulled through the worst of it.
7. Meng Dui had touched on our progress thus far, in terms of our construction programme. I would like to elaborate on this.
8. In the first nine months of this year, HDB has issued almost 18,000 sets of keys to flat buyers. In fact, HDB has handed over close to 60,000 keys to flat buyers since the start of the pandemic.
9. Looking ahead, HDB’s pipeline of new BTO projects will increase. Today, there are almost 80,000 HDB flats under construction in almost 100 BTO projects islandwide.
10. And this will grow to 110,000 flats in 150 projects in 2025.
11. While we are finding our footing in this new normal, we must strengthen our fundamentals as a sector, to be prepared for future headwinds and shocks.
12. This is where the refreshed BE Industry Transformation Map (ITM) comes in. It guides our firms in our sector to be more productive, sustainable, collaborative and resilient,and ultimately make us a more attractive sector for our talent.
13. I am also glad to see how our public housing developments have helped to catalyse transformation in our sector. With the large number of BTO projects underway, HDB and the companies it works with are embarking on greater standardisation of their precast components.
14. This enables the adoption of robotics and automation during the production of these components, which in turn reduces our reliance on manual labour. In addition, standardisation can lower production cost and allow builders to switch to alternative sources, if an existing source is disrupted.
15. We are also deploying robotics and automation at our construction sites. This includes robots for painting, skimming and polishing, automated material transporters at construction worksites, as well as 3D concrete printing of free-form architectural elements.
16. There are many other initiatives for transformation. For those who may find this journey daunting, don’t worry. We will walk alongside you and support you.
17. Ultimately, this will help us to deliver good quality homes for Singaporeans.
New Bayshore Housing Estate – Urban Communities by the Waterfront
18. Building a block of flats takes a few years. But the planning and development work starts many years before that.
19. This is because town planning needs to be comprehensive.
20. Aside from building homes, we need to ensure that there are amenities, transport networks, as well as recreational and green spaces, so that every town and estate is self-sustaining.
21. As our city gets more developed and built up, there will be fewer large tracts of undeveloped land to build new towns and estates.
22. Increasingly, we will build new homes within existing estates or near to them. This includes building in more central areas.
23. Let me quickly share with you some of our broad plans.
a) In our Long-Term Plan Review Exhibition last year, we had showcased the concept of “Long Island”, a new reclaimed area along the south-eastern coast from Marina East to Changi. It will provide coastal protection against rising sea levels and can also open up exciting opportunities, such as waterfront housing as well as coastal parks, and recreational spaces.
b) We also have plans for the former Keppel golf course site. It will form part of the Greater Southern Waterfront, and we will build 9,000 homes, of which 6,000 will be HDB homes.
c) Other plans include the redevelopment of Turf City in Bukit Timah, as well as Paya Lebar Air Base. The latter will potentially yield 150,000 new homes for Singaporeans.
24. Tonight, I will set out our plans for Bayshore, which will be a new waterfront residential estate located next to the East Coast Park.
25. HDB first started building flats in Bedok in the 1970s. Over the years, the town has undergone significant rejuvenation. There is a new town plaza, new amenities such as the Bedok Interchange, Hawker Centre and Bedok Mall, and new pedestrian and cycling paths to connect the different parks across Bedok. These keep the town vibrant and meet the needs of the community.
26. Bayshore sits on reclaimed land that has been earmarked for residential development since 1998, and will be another key milestone in the rejuvenation of Bedok. Guided by the vision to build “Urban Communities by the Waterfront”, the planning of the 60-hectare Bayshore will focus on providing new public and private housing in a waterfront environment, with walking and cycling paths linking the neighbourhoods, to encourage residents to adopt more active lifestyles. These plans have incorporated ideas from our local engagements since 2017.
27. Today, I am glad to share that we will build around 10,000 new homes in Bayshore, of which around 7,000 will be HDB flats. These Bayshore flats will be the first HDB homes built along the East Coast since the construction of HDB flats in Marine Parade. We will offer a range of housing typologies, including rental flats, to promote more inclusive neighbourhoods.
28. Aside from these new homes, we have plans to enhance transport networks in Bedok. Today, Bedok is already a well-connected town, served by two existing MRT lines, and a comprehensive network of cycling paths and park connectors.
29. These networks will be further extended to Bayshore and throughout the new estate. Residents will have convenient access to two upcoming MRT stations, Bayshore and Bedok South, that will run along the Thomson-East Coast Line. There will also be a network of walking and cycling paths connecting residents to Bedok town and East Coast Park.
30. With comprehensive transport connectivity, Bayshore will be designated a car-lite estate. The main street along Bayshore Drive will be a vibrant community spine with a wide range of amenities such as a new shopping mall, supermarket, eateries, and recreational facilities for residents to eat, shop and play.
31. A part of the street will be a car-free, bus-only Transit Priority Corridor (TPC) for residents to walk and cycle safely, and to access the amenities located along the TPC.
32. Future residents can also look forward to green spaces within the estate. There will be a new 3-hectare Central Park at the heart of Bayshore, as well as a new linear park along the edge of Bayshore estate, where families can have picnics and gatherings together.
33. We will launch our first two HDB projects in Bayshore next year, comprising about 1,400 flats. Aspiring homeowners can look forward to new homes with a waterfront view in a well-connected and urban environment. Those with parents residing in Bedok will also have more options to live close by for mutual care and support.
34. Over the next few months, we will be working with community stakeholders under the East Coast Conversations to engage residents, share more about our plans and gather feedback. We welcome all to share your views with us, so that we can build a home and community that we can all be proud of.
Our Journey Forward
35. The mission of building homes for Singaporeans does not rely on good urban planning and construction alone. We will also have to ensure they remain affordable for a wide range of Singaporeans with different budgets. We also want to see a good social mix in our estates, and to keep our system of allocating subsidies fair.
36. Hence, as announced by PM at National Day Rally this year, we will be moving towards a new framework for BTO flats from the second half of 2024, away from the existing frame of mature and non-mature estates, to HDB-Standard, HDB-Plus and HDB-Prime.
37. Standard flats are the BTO flats we know today and will continue to remain the majority of our future supply. Prime flats have been launched under the Prime Location Public Housing (PLH) model since 2021. The Plus model is new and will be launched from the second half of 2024.
38. What are potential candidates for Plus projects then? Well, Bayshore is a likely candidate, given its attractive location and the comprehensive suite of amenities close by.
39. Plus flats will come with additional subsidies to ensure that they remain affordable to a wider range of incomes. Correspondingly, these flats will come with tighter restrictions such as a 10-year Minimum Occupation Period, resale restrictions to encourage owner-occupation and deter speculation, and a subsidy recovery upon first resale.
40. With the new changes, Singaporeans can look forward to a wider range of affordable and accessible housing options.
a) For example, singles will be able to apply for 2-Room Flexi flats across Standard, Plus and Prime projects.
b) Married couples and parents with young children will continue to receive priority in flat allocation, islandwide, with additional ballot chances if they come under the First-Timer (Parents and Married Couples) category.
c) Our seniors will also receive more support so that they can age gracefully in their homes and communities. For example, we are developing a pipeline of Community Care Apartments (CCAs), which are senior-friendly housing integrated with care services and social activities and programming.
41. Over the last two months, we have engaged Singaporeans from diverse backgrounds on these upcoming changes. Many of you have come forward to share your views with us. We will continue to refine the scheme as we work to implement it next year.
Conclusion
42. We have laid out our vision and plans for public housing of the future, and we look forward to working closely with our industry partners to bring them to life. Let us press on with our efforts and forge even stronger partnerships, as we continue to deliver on our mission to provide affordable homes of quality and value for Singaporeans.
43. Congratulations once again to all the winners tonight and I wish all of you a good evening ahead. Thank you.