SINGAPORE: National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan said the government will continue to be vigilant of any abuse of the Executive Condominium (EC) housing scheme, and defended the scheme as still being relevant.
He was responding to questions raised in Parliament on the affordability of ECs.
He said: "It is a wonderful scheme. It protects middle-income Singaporeans from competition and ensures a market-friendly way of allowing them to buy condominiums at very affordable prices.
"If I can give you an analogy, it's like offering you a Lexus at the price of a Corolla, but only Singaporeans have this privilege for (buying it at that price). And they know in due course the price will go up above the level of a Lexus, so I think it is a very good scheme."
On January 11, the government announced several measures to cool the market, which has seen super-sized ECs being developed, with one sold at more than S$2 million.
To curb the situation, a size cap of 160 square metres has been imposed for each EC unit, while dual-key units can only be bought by multi-generational families.
Mr Khaw said the measures introduced should bring ECs back to their original intent and ensure developers build ECs to benefit the intended target buyers.
-CNA/ac
EC housing scheme still relevant, says Khaw
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EC housing scheme still relevant, says Khaw
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EC housing scheme still relevant, says Khaw
