COSTING OF HDB FLATS

Mr Chiam See Tong asked the Minister for National Development if he will give the breakdown cost of unit flat including land cost incurred by the Housing and Development Board of flats constructed at (i) Yishun New Town, (ii) Zhenghua New Town, (iii) Hougang New Town, (iv) Potong Pasir, (v) Bedok New Town and (vi) Jalan Besar.

Mr S. Dhanabalan: The cost incurred by the Housing and Development Board in building its flats can be broken down into construction cost and land cost. Construction cost relates to the cost of the building itself, the cost of piling, the installation of electrical supply, sanitation, lifts, water supply, etc, as well as the cost of earthworks, ancillary roads, sewers and drains. Construction cost is determined by the prices of contracts tendered out by HDB. Land cost is determined by the Chief Valuer based on the market values of comparable land. Land cost attributed to the flats does not include the land for commercial premises, town gardens and other non-residential uses in the HDB estate.

Cost data in detail is only available since the HDB introduced the new accounting system in 1985. Bedok and Jalan Besar were completed before 1 Apr 85. In Potong Pasir, most of the dwelling units were completed before that date. HDB did not buy any land in Potong Pasir and Yishun from the Government in the last two years.

HDB buys land in small parcels from the State for its development. The land cost is attributed to the different flats built on each parcel according to generally accepted accounting principles. To present the construction and land cost data for each parcel, in each estate, for every room type and for a particular fiscal year would be too voluminous. The attached table (Appendix I) therefore illustrates the average cost per unit of 4-A flats (the most popular type of flats), analysed into construction and land costs for Pasir Ris, Bukit Panjang, Hougang and Toa Payoh (Temple Estate).

Appendix I AVERAGE COST PER UNIT OF 4-A FLATS FY 86/87 and FY 87/88 (1) (2) (1)+(2) (4) Cost of Land = 3 Selling (3)-(4) Units Construction Cost Cost Price Subsidy ($) ($) ($) ($) ($) Pasir Ris 3626 53000 17800 70800 56300 14500 (New Town Zone) comparable to Yishun New Town Hougang North 1735 53000 33000 86000 62100 23900 (Outer Suburban Zone) Bukit Panjang 2023 53000 28700 81700 62100 19600 (Outer Suburban Zone Toa Payoh 763 53000 49000 102000 79500 22500 (Temple Estate) (Outer Urban Zone) comparable to Potong Pasir chart - COMPARATIVE TABLE (Cols. 1781 - 1786)