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7. The Subsidised

Homeownership

Scheme

The malign consequences of our public housing programme
necessitate a powerful solution. Hence, the Report contends that the SHS
will serve as a highly effective panacea to the socioeconomic ills presented
in the previous chapters. The capability of the SHS to ameliorate the four ills
of our misguided public housing policy are subsequently presented below.

7.1 SHS and the Pursuit of Equality

The inequity in the allocation of PRH generates enormous eco-
nomic inefficiency and stifles the social spectrum. It would be astute to look
for policy alternatives.

A faster, less expensive and non-wasteful solution is the SHS. If it
is implemented for future public housing units, more and more of public
housing units would become available for rent in the open market. The
SHS would lead to the creation of a single housing market rather than two
separate markets. Doing so is a simple way to stimulate consumption and
investment activities through an injection of property wealth. It would also
meet the needs of those who are currently occupying sub-divided units
and/or are on the Waiting List for PRH.

Moreover, a market for these units will then quickly emerge, and
the economic inefficiencies would be ameliorated in one fell stroke. There
would be an incentive for trading to take place and the re-matching of ten-
ants’ needs and housing units would come into effect and the problem of
inequity could be rectified. With competition, housing units would also be
more affordable. A thriving private rental market would provide the housing
market with long-term stability.

The SHS would be a triple-win policy. First the Housing Authority
would be able to collect more unpaid land premiums and at a much faster
rate. Second, HOS owners would know with greater certainty what they
actually owed the government from day one, rather than seeing unpaid
land premiums fluctuate and over time escalate with market conditions.
Third, some HOS units might then become available on the market for rent
or sale. Aspiring new homeowners would not have to wait several years for
new units to be built as proposed in various government initiatives.

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