Housing in Singapore: Netizen asks if single people feel like they’re being left out

SINGAPORE: “Single people left out by government?” a Reddit user asked on May 31 (Thursday) about the current housing issue that the country is facing.

“When the news reported about housing affordability, they used the income of a couple to justify the affordability. Single people seems to be left out. I feel it’s so hard to own a decent place with my income,” wrote u/oieric on r/askSingapore.

Laws in Singapore may be perceived to be skewed in favour of married couples and older singles when it comes to housing.

At the moment, only singles who are at least 35 may buy HDB flats. Additionally, they can buy only resale HDB flats or apply for two-room Build-to-Order (BTO) Flexi flats.

As for affordability, dollarsandsense.sg said in an article last month that the average monthly income to be able to afford a three to five-room resale HDB flat is approximately between $4,700 and $8,400.

The same site said that the median salary for Singapore in 2022 is $5,070, which would make buying a flat very difficult for a younger single person, if not impossible.

Some commenters appeared to agree with the post’s author.

One pointed out that “Government want people to have family and kids so of course housing policy is targeted that way.”

“They could build more single-sized flats tho,” suggested another.

“The gahmen already assume all single people live with their papa and mama,” another chimed in.

“The harsh truth is that government policies are always trying to optimise the greatest good for the greatest number.

If you are a single, you make up less than 30% of the population, the rest being married, divorced/seperated or widowed. So at any one time, almost 70% of the singapore population is married,” another pointed out.

“Singles basically is 3rd class,” another said.     

/TISG

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