Should HDB build bigger flats?

Singaporeans hold a common belief that HDB flats of today are generally much smaller than those built decades ago. 

However, this has been debunked by former Minister Khaw Boon Wan during a dialogue in 2012, stating that HDB's design criteria have remained unchanged since 1997.

Feeling the squeeze

More Singaporeans are starting to feel boxed in, especially those residing in smaller two-room and three-room units.

The circuit breaker measures could have also exacerbated this issue in 2020 when a large segment of the population was made to work from home.

A problem that arose from this pivot to WFH was how underlying tensions could escalate to violence at home, as family members and other occupants are forced to be confined to small spaces for extended periods.

The Straits Times reported an increase in the number of domestic violence cases due to the Covid-19 pandemic, pointing to the rise in stress stemming from income losses and work from home arrangements.

A total of 5,134 police reports relating to family violence were made in 2020, while another 3,700 calls were made to the National Anti-Violence Helpline in the first six months of 2021.

This has prompted some individuals to raise their concerns via the Straits Times forum, calling for HDB to consider building larger flats. The rationale was that bigger apartments would help reduce the likelihood of triggering underlying challenges within families.

Encouraging growing families

Aside from this, one of the forum submissions also points out that more space at home would not only forge healthy relationships among family members but could also encourage families to have more children.

This would be a boon for Singapore, considering its declining birth rate over the past two decades. The total fertility rate (TFR) bottomed out at a historic low of 1.1 in 2020 as many were forced to delay their parenthood plans due to the pandemic. 

Having access to a larger living space may incentivise young Singaporeans to have more kids, especially when they have the convenience of live-in family members to help out.

It also kills two birds with one-stone; being able to take care of ageing parents while having more in-home support from family.

Rapidly ageing population

Another argument calling for HDB to build larger flats was that it would be better for senior citizens to stay with their children, considering the rapid rate of ageing in the population. 

Increased life expectancy coupled with declining birth rates makes Singapore one of the fastest ageing societies in Asia, alongside Japan.

It is estimated that around a third of Singaporeans will be aged 65 and above by 2035. 

Families residing in smaller flat types will definitely feel claustrophobic as the average household would usually comprise of a couple, two children, an elderly couple and a live-in helper. 

With the pandemic changing how we live and work, having five to seven people reside comfortably in a HDB flat with only three bedrooms poses quite the conundrum.

Especially so if both parents and children are forced to adapt to WFH and home-based learning arrangements.

More buying bigger flats

Since the pandemic started, there's been an uptick in people purchasing four-room and five-room units despite the ballooning property resale prices. 

Demand for larger flats soared in 2021, with the number of resale four-room and five-room flats experiencing a massive year-on-year growth of 28.6 per cent and 30.9 per cent, respectively. 

HDB type	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
Four-room	8,774	6,302 (-28%)	6,387 (+1.3%)	7,256 (+13.6%)	8,146 (+12.2%)	8,606 (+5.6%)	8,880 (3.2%)	9,368 (+5.5%)	9,685 (+3.4%)	12,459 (+28.6%)	3,340
Five-room	5,499	3,686 (-32.9%)	3,464 (-6%)	4,203 (+21.3%)	4,625 (+10%)	5,023 (+8.6%)	5,531 (+10.1%)	5,489

Source: URA, Realis and 99.co

Relative to 2021, the last time the resale market experienced a double-digit percentage growth was back in 2016. 

Return to normalcy

While having more living space and preventing domestic violence are valid points of concern, it may not be an issue for much longer. The government announced that ALL employees can return to the workplace.

Being able to return to working in the office means a decreased likelihood of clashes occurring amongst family members at home due to tensions surfacing from being confined to small spaces for a prolonged period.

On top of this, considering Singapore's land scarcity, it would be doubtful for HDB to be able to justify building larger flats. 

If you're looking for a bigger space to call home, consider picking older HDBs such as Executive Apartments, or even the highly-coveted jumbo flats that will provide much-needed space of up to 2,000 sq ft. 

This article was first published in 99.co.