Couples now buy home first, marry later: Khaw
SINGAPORE — The social norm that one would first get married, rent a home and start a family before purchasing a property is now “outdated”.
SINGAPORE — The social norm that one would first get married, rent a home and start a family before purchasing a property is now “outdated”.
Instead, couples now prefer to buy a home, then wed and have children, said National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan yesterday.
Writing on his blog in a post titled Housing Policies Must Support Social Objectives, Mr Khaw acknowledged the mindset shift among younger Singaporeans. “In my generation, most went through this sequence: Get married, rent a home, have a baby or more, buy a home. I did. But my young Sembawang activists taught me that such a sequence was outdated. What is cool is to first get a home, then get married and start a family,” said Mr Khaw.
He cited the example of a Sembawang activist who successfully applied for a Build-to-Order (BTO) flat with his fiancee three years ago. They are now getting married because the flat is about to be handed over.
To help the young meet their aspirations “as soon as they are ready to do so”, Mr Khaw said he had “moved quickly” to ramp up the construction of BTO flats as well as introduce the Parenthood Priority Scheme (PPS) and Parenthood Provisional Housing Scheme (PPHS).
These policies are showing results, with the first-timer backlog “largely cleared”.
The PPS sets aside 30 per cent of BTO flats and 50 per cent of soon-to-be-completed BTO flats or Sale of Balance Flats for married couples who are first-time applicants and have children under 16 years old.
Mr Khaw said that almost 10,000 couples would have benefited from the PPS by next month. About half of these are expecting or already have children below two years old.
The PPHS provides rental housing for married couples with children who are first-time applicants and need temporary housing while waiting for the completion of their new flats.
Since its launch, almost 800 flats have been taken up. PPHS flats are located in Ang Mo Kio, Bedok, Jurong West and Queenstown. The Housing and Development Board said there are about 360 such flats available for future selection exercises.
Mr Khaw outlined the social objectives guiding housing policies: To encourage the young to get married and have children as soon as they wed.
“Family is the foundation of all societies. A stable family builds a stable society,” said Mr Khaw, adding that “young healthy parents provide the best chances for their children”.
Analysts TODAY spoke to were divided on whether Mr Khaw’s acknowledgement of a new social norm could signal a fundamental shift in housing policies. Agreeing that it could mark a change, Mr Colin Tan, Director and head of research and consultancy at Suntec Real Estate, argued that housing policies in the past had shaped social behaviour as it made more sense financially to buy a home early instead of renting.
He added: “If the (intent) was to ensure procreation starts as early as possible, let not housing be the reason for holding couples back from getting married and having babies earlier.”
To help Singaporeans have children earlier instead of waiting until their flats are completed, Mr Tan suggested that the Government consider providing heavy rental subsidies to couples for a limited period of time.
Mr Nicholas Mak, Executive Director of Research and Consultancy at SLP International Property Consultants, pointed out that from time to time, the Government would have to tweak policies to respond to what Singaporeans want and “changing social patterns”.
He cited the move to allow singles to buy two-room BTO flats as an example.
“For singles, while the floodgates have already been opened and they are allowed to buy new BTO flats, the question now is: Should they be allowed to buy bigger HDB flats?” he said.
“At the moment, singles are allowed to buy only two-room (units) and feedback from the people is that it’s just way too small ... like a shoebox apartment.” ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY WOO SIAN BOON