- Sengkang (698 units) $123 million, awarded June 2008
- Queenstown (1,394 units) $188 million, awarded June 2008
- Hougang (792 units) $113 million, awarded August 2011
- Bukit Panjang (862 units) $137 million, awarded August 2012
If all the numbers are added up and divided, it looks like the average cost of construction for one HDB unit is about $150,000. Needless to say, the units are a mix of 2-room to 4-room units, with selling prices to match.
Another HDB contractor boasted that its unit cost of $547/m2 (of constructed floor area) was lower than HDB's industry average of $590/m2 for design & build (BTO) projects. The latest data we have for BTO projects come from the boast that 4-room flats will be affordable at listed prices of $285,000 and up. 4-room flats also come in different layouts and floor areas. Using the more common figure of 93 sq m, the cost of construction based on HDB's own industry average is about $54,870 for a 4-room unit.
One opposition party member once got into serious trouble when he shouted, "Mr Goh, Mr Goh, where is the money, Mr Goh?" Before you jump up and yell, "Mr Lee, Mr Lee, where is the money, Mr Lee?", recall what the guy said at his National Day Rally (NDR) speech, "And people say HDB is making money. Something is wrong."
Something is definitely wrong here since the same guy who graduated from Cambridge with Double First Class Honours in Mathematical Statistics and Mathematical Economics and a distinction in a Diploma in Computer Science also said in his NDR 2013 speech, "I stare at a page of Math with the formulas; I do not understand what is going on sometimes." Maybe one needs a Doctorate to understand HDB math, or deal with a character who boasted about his $8 open heart surgery to showcase affordable health care.
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Wow thanks for the figures. There was once a table listing the prices of BTO flats and the construction cost on Wikipedia under the article on "built to order HDB". It is still there in the history section.
ReplyDeleteLast time HDB used to publish a quarterly manual that is made available to the public containing an index listing major construction material prices like cement, concrete, steel, etc.
DeleteAlso published are the average rates used in the bids by HDB contractors in submitting their tenders for some of the major building trades including plumbing & electrical services. And the other Govt agencies used these rates to bully contractors into accepting payment for new works done. Those were the days.
The obvious question is why has HDB stopped being as open as in those old days where they even published the all the related information for each tender award such as cost, no. Of units,
and total grossfloor area and average construction cost per sq.ft or sq.m?
Has it to do with trying to keep such info from the public so that HDB can keep selling at whatever profit margin they deem fit?
If they can't even be honest about the difference between selling a studio apartment from a 2-room flat, how can we expect our Ministers to be honest about their profiteering or raiding our purported reserves as they put it?
If you are aged 55 & above, would you be an idiot to buy a studio apartment with a lease of 30 years left & can only sell back to HDB as compared to a 2room flat about the same area and costing cheaper but without these restrictions?
DeleteLooks like HDB is caught in a fix trying to explain why they want to make a fool out of elderly residents?
BTO Projects from Wikipedia
Delete"Awarded BTO main contractors tender, each construction costs per 5-room, 4-room, 3-room & 2-room units are likely to be average about $160,000, $120,000, $80,000 & $40,000 (based on 2004 cost) respectively. This may also include the cost of sub-contractors and construction of multi-storey carpark, Lifts, Electrical Substation (ESS), Child-care center, Children Playground, Fitness Corner, Linkway Shelter & Open Space landscape etc. Construction Excellence Award - CEA between 2001 to 2006"
Looks like the government rake in $200,000 for every flat sold.
ReplyDeleteIf they make a profit of S$200K but return a total grant of $50k to the applicants, are they still sucking anybody's blood?
DeleteI am reminded of the "Raiding the Reserves" pitch by MBT and someone who blogged about the real land cost earlier.
ReplyDeletehttp://de-leviathan.blogspot.hk/2011/04/illegal-raid-on-reserves-mr-mah-should.html
The only reserves that get raided are your savings and your CPF money.
DeleteOf course HDB doesn't make a profit of $200k per unit of HDB flat sold, because it has to pay SLA average of $250k for "cost of land" for each unit sold! Historical reserves from land sales is classified, not released to the public, it is part of the leeserves, no one needs to know except familee and those in their payroll (like that octogenarian who makes $4m a yr, truly "peanuts" for guarding the secrets).
ReplyDeleteHDB is like a sponge that absorbs water( CPF contributions).The limits of what the government can borrow from the CPF board was breached. So they passed a bill to up the limits(money).To prevent early saturation, they find a bigger sponge(higher HDB prices).To make you happy, they tell you that HDB is losing money with grants but never tell you it is because of the market value of land costs that HDB pays the Government.Of course the developer (HDB) is losing money but the land owner is laughing all the way to the bank.
DeleteRemember it is public housing they are talking about, morally should they be over profiteering from the citizens?
DeleteDin't MDT say that selling flats at cost is raiding the reserves?
DeleteMr Lim Tiam Seng (the Executive Chairman of CESC) who was already a PBM holder, was conferred the Public Service Star (BBM). He is the founder of CESC, and is the Patron of Yio Chu Kang Citizens’ Consultative Committee (CCC).
ReplyDeleteMr Raymong Chia (the Executive Deputy Chairman and Group CEO of CESC) was conferred the Public Service Medal (PBM). He is the Patron of Nee Soon South Citizens’ Consultative Committee (CCC)
How cosy. All their cronies (ka ki lang), make money not enough, honoured on top of it. When Ah Loong said we are all in this together, you know what and who he meant. My faith has just taken a dive.
http://www.tremeritus.com/2013/08/23/chip-eng-sengs-chairman-dy-chairman-honoured/
Correction: CES (Chip Eng Seng Corporation)the holding company, not CESC (Chip Eng Seng Contractors)a subsidiary.
DeleteWhat is new? Years ago like that already. They need each other.
DeleteDO NOT FORGET THAT MOST CONTRACTS HAVE CLAUSES TO CLAIM FOR "COSTS OVERRUNS ".
ReplyDeleteTHE ACTUAL SUMS ARE NOT REVEALED.
Only holey beings may have assess, or may that decades of man-years to compute.
One can easily buy a house for 50k pound in uk with newly fitted kitchen and bathroom suits. Btw, UK is a first world country with a high minimum wage. Singapore properties are overvalued.
ReplyDeleteif it's not overvalued then i worried for cpf.
Deletevaluation of hdb (and private properties) using individual cpf funds .... where are they reflected in cpf board financial statements?
these are not reflected in each individual cpf statement (i cUnt see it in my cpf statement) and not taken into individual minimum sum balances at the age of 55
VANISHED INTO THE THIN AIR? CREATIVE ACCOUNTING??
fuck papies
Singapore properties overvalued? It is a question of supply and demand, that's why there is this push for 6.9 million!
DeleteCPF and medisave(now to be used for complusory medishield life) are instruments for sucking your money.You contribute to your CPF SA,OA,MA with ever increasing minimum sum to be locked up, pay ever increasing HDB prices,medical charges and medishied premiums.They still expect you to stay disciplined,save for retirement and pay out of pocket hospital bills
DeleteRemove 1 million people, regardless citizen,PR,maids, FT and you will see a 50% drop in prices in all segments.
ReplyDeleteThose who bought within the last 3 years will have to top up loans
Those who are renting out will cry a river
This is the only test that will shake out who are the real wealthy ones. Your neighbour who drives a BMW suv and a Volvo sedan with a maid, 2 labradors and 3 story house with gym and koi pond will commit suicide.
Me?.. just sit back and watch the chaos... smile and sing.. "its a wonderful world" by louis armstrong.
Somehow my aspiration was not captured in the OSC.
Of course you are right.The economy has been forced fed.Put it another way, the balloon is over inflated, you cannot deflate it suddenly without terrible conseqences.Soft landing preferred.
DeleteThank you PAP for enhancing the asset value of my old HDB flat by adding the cost of the land into the price, after I bought it. Now I can sell the flat at > 20 times it's original value, before the bubble burst, and live on the beach. Asset Enhancement - brilliant idea by Woody Goh and Lau Lee. This gahment so good, make me feel so rich, I feel so wonderful.
DeleteMe, I cannot sing lah, I ony attend auctions and buy the fugly suvs at fire-sale prices. Last time in 2000 I bot a river valley freehold 1300ft at 3xx, no one in the auction room except my dog and I. The security guard never even stop my dog leh!! Unfortunately now my dog is in spirit world, so I will visit auctions alone la!
DeleteSomeone questioned the Govt why they allow those car companies to bid COEs on behalf of the car buyers?
ReplyDeleteJust imagine similarly if house buyers need COEs to buy a house, do you think that Developers will think of their interest or that of the house buyer first?
What does this tell us about the sincerity of our Ministers in trying to solve the affordability of our public housing and in the same argument that of our cars?
Remember the Great Orchard Road Flood when the grandmaster came out and lashed out at critics saying that Singapore will lose half of its roads if we built big longkangs to cater for 1 in 50 years floods? When the longkang minister to be dumb folded when the 1 in 50 years great flood happened again? That we are also responsible because there are rubbish in the longkang? When NEA described a flood as a ponding and keep insisting that building owners are also responsible for keeping away floodwaters from their building?
DeleteWhat to do, we have brilliant ministers.
Should have added, all fails, blame God.
DeleteDoes the Cost of construction matters when Sinkies queue for days and nights to buy them?
ReplyDeleteIts all about KPIs.
ReplyDeleteAnd its statistics that drives everything here. Thats why he has Mathematics degree. Heart & soul does not equate with stats and numbers and KPIs.
What cannot be measured cannot be improved.
The HDB and any other agency can only exist with numbers.
The higher profit the better. The higher savings the better. ( as long as their pay is tagged to the higher numbers lah!)
Money is numbers.
Numbers is top dog here in Singapore.
the higher the profits
Deletethe higher the top dogs renumerations
the higher the dignity of lee hsien loong and his dogs and bitches ..
else how can he lecture the Chinese authority on how the Chinese leaders are supposed to solve territorial disputes
Ninety nine years rental term. The elephant in the room.
ReplyDeleteUnderstanding HDB's CON-struction costs.
ReplyDeleteCost of construction is not fixed and cannot be planned in advanced because construction is something which is full of uncertain arrival of situations that delays the completion date and increases or decreases the cost.
ReplyDelete