Clarifications regarding State land valuation and public housing policies

The Ministry of Finance (MOF) and Ministry of National Development (MND) would like to clarify misconceptions on social media regarding how prices of State land sold to HDB for public housing are determined and the purpose of the Government’s provision of housing grants.

Key Facts

1. The prices for sale of state land to HDB are not set by the Government. Rather, the Chief Valuer (CV) determines the fair market value (FMV), and the sale price is set with reference to the FMV. 

   1. The CV is an independent office, whose appointment requires the President’s concurrence and whose professional assessment is made without influence from the Government.

   2. The CV uses established valuation principles, which are similarly adopted by professional valuers in the private sector.

   3. For more information, please refer to MOF’s 4 Jul 2024 Factually article.

2. The Government provides housing grants to ensure public housing affordability, and not to boost the reserves.

   1. HDB does not price new HDB flats to recover cost. Instead, HDB first establishes the market value of the flats and applies a significant market discount to the assessed market values to ensure BTO flats are affordable to flat buyers. Tiered housing grants are offered by HDB, using money from taxpayers, to provide targeted help to those who need it the most.  

   2. For more information, please refer to MND’s resources on public housing policies:

i. MND’s 24 Aug 2023 Factually article on corrections regarding falsehoods on public housing policies; and

ii. HDB’s webpage on how Build-to-Order (BTO) flats are priced.