Developers Should Heed EC's Policy Spirit

EC developers should heed policy's spirit: Khaw

National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan has said that developers of executive condominiums (ECs) exercising the flexibility in pricing and design that they have been given should stay within the spirit of the concept of this class of housing.

Issuing the reminder through a blog post in "Housing Matters", he wrote that ECs were conceptualised for Singaporean families earning within $12,000 a month, to enable them to own condominium-style homes at below the market rate.

Noting news reports that an EC penthouse had recently been sold for $1.77 million, and that another penthouse would soon hit the market, he wrote: "I expect the developer to have done his calculations to ensure that the unit will be affordable for the targeted EC applicants. We provide EC developers with much flexibility, but they must be mindful that this flexibility must be exercised in keeping with the intent and spirit of the EC policy."

He also wrote that the government zones and tenders out plots specifically for ECs, enabling developers to acquire these plots for less than land meant for private condominiums, to build ECs for those who can afford to buy more than an HDB flat, but still find private property unaffordable. Some in the industry read his blog comments as being a precursor to some government measures to rein in EC prices.

The $1.77 million unit ($624 per sq ft) that Mr Khaw was referring to is in Heron Bay in Upper Serangoon; a week before it was sold, a double-storey penthouse in Yishun's 1 Canberra went for $1.61 million ($595 psf).

A 4,349 sq ft "presidential penthouse suite" in the upcoming project, CityLife @ Tampines, is expected to trump this. Billed as "Singapore's first luxury hotel-style" EC, the project by Amara Holdings, Kay Lim Holdings and SingXpress Land is sited next to The Tampines Trilliant.

Source: Business Times –24 November 2012