HDB Housing, Singapore

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Most of the population of our country live in apartment blocks built by Housing Development Board (HDB).

These high rise building could be as tall as 40 storey high (Toa Payoh Estate).
Most blocks in older estates are 12 storey or 24 storey tall.
We have multi-story car park where a few blocks of flat will share the parking facilities for about $90 per month.

Our postal address normally starts with Blk. This is the block no. we live in followed by the Street Name and Unit No. and postal code.

eg. Blk 123, ABC Road, #40-123 Singapore 123456

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About 80-90% of Singapore's population live in (Housing and Development Board) HDB flats which is a high-density solution to the problem of overcrowding of this small island nation.

The government states that there must be a certain ratio of ethnic groups within the HDB blocks to promote homogeny amongst Singapore's diverse population.

Considerations for granting the application of an HDB flat includes the number of children you have plus citizenship and residency status.

Singapore is a compact city where the majority of the people live in good quality public housing.

In the 1960s, the newly formed Housing Development Board (affectionately known by its acronym HDB by Singaporeans) started its building program. The flats that you see in this photo were built in 1965 just after the great fire in Bukit Ho Swee. As these flats are old, they could have easily fallen into disrepair and evolved into slums, but the local authorities began a major refurbishment in 1990s to upgrade these old flats. Now they are a much sought after accommodation as many of the apartments are located close to the city centre.

Sizes of the HDB flats range from 600 sq ft to over 1500 sq ft. The smaller ones have only 1 or 2 bedrooms. Singaporeans are house-proud people. Many families - young and old -spend tens of thousands of dollars to renovate and furnish their homes. Viewing showhouses, and shopping for antiques and furniture is a favourite weekend past-time.

Depending on size and location, HDB flats can cost from SGD 150k to close to 500k, with the majority in the 250k range.

The older housing estates are found in Queenstown, Toa Payoh, Ang Mo Kio while the newer ones are found in Bishan, Yishun, Tampines, Pasir Ris, Sembawang, Sengkang and Punggol.

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Most of the HDB estates have shops at ground floor level selling day to day items that you may need for around the home.

They sell a large varietyof things like foods and drinks, alcoholic beverages, kitchen and bathroom needs plus personal toiletry items.

Average Singaporeans live in these goverment apartment buildings. Most of the affordable apartments are in the "suburbs", outside the busy city. The price of homes and apartments in the city is astronomical.

Majority of Singaporeans live in flats and hence you are able to see tall blocks of flats in all kinds of colours around Singapore. If you have the extra time to spare,do look carefully at these flats, they are all different.