{"id":23893,"date":"2025-12-29T01:45:47","date_gmt":"2025-12-28T17:45:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=23893"},"modified":"2025-12-29T01:45:47","modified_gmt":"2025-12-28T17:45:47","slug":"why-more-land-doesnt-automatically-fix-housing-in-singapore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=23893","title":{"rendered":"Why More Land Doesn\u2019t Automatically Fix Housing In Singapore"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

Recently, I was told about a programme by the Government of Ireland that pays around US$90,000 (S$115,632) for you to move to an island<\/strong>. The policy, called \u2018Our Living Islands<\/a>\u2019 doesn\u2019t actually pay you to move there. They\u2019re giving you the money to refurbish an existing home if you relocate to one of the rural island communities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As always with these sorts of programs, there are eligibility requirements and strings attached. The money is strictly for buying and refurbishing a vacant or derelict home on a qualifying island which has no bridge or causeway connecting it to the mainland.<\/p>\n

The Irish government says that there are about 30 islands off the coast of Ireland that are cut off daily by the tide, but still have permanent year-round populations and are not in private ownership. This probably explains why these rural island communities have several vacant or derelict houses.<\/p>\n

The house has to have been vacant for two years and built before 1993. The US$90,000 is for houses in the worst state of dereliction. You can\u2019t use it as a holiday home or rent it out, there\u2019s a clawback if you sell it, and you must already have residency, among other conditions of the repopulation policy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, it parallels other government programs around the world that aim to incentivise people to move into certain areas. <\/strong>For example, <\/strong>we\u2019ve seen similar policies introduced in Japan<\/a> and Italy<\/a>. Whenever a programme like this comes up, it tends to spark coffeeshop talk about how property prices are crazy in Singapore, and how in bigger countries there are often at least \u201ccheaper\u201d places to run to.<\/p>\n

Time and again, Singaporeans will bring up home sizes or land scarcity as among the biggest challenges faced by the housing market here. But if we scrutinise it more closely, these \u201ccheap home\u201d programmes should be telling us a completely different story.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What those examples show isn\u2019t that bigger countries typically result in fewer housing issues. Rather, it replaces the land scarcity issue with another <\/em>problem, namely accessibility and livability.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ireland\u2019s islands have land for communities to grow. Japan\u2019s countryside has land primed for redevelopment. Italy\u2019s hill towns could accommodate larger populations as well. What the rural governments in these countries struggle with isn\u2019t raw square footage but accessibility. These areas are usually so far from central urban areas that there aren\u2019t enough jobs (or at least, not enough jobs that pay well enough), and a severe lack of facilities \u2013 sometimes to the point where any cost savings are more than balanced out by transport costs, or the costs of bringing in needed supplies. It\u2019s also nigh-impossible for certain family situations, such as seniors who need nearby healthcare, or children who need school access.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And this problem doesn\u2019t only show up between cities or countries. It appears even within<\/em> very large cities.<\/p>\n

Take Los Angeles, often held up as the archetype of a sprawling urban metropolis with a large land area. On paper, LA has everything we often claim Singapore lacks, like a vast land area, low-rise neighbourhoods, and the ability to just keep<\/em> expanding outward.<\/p>\n

Yet affordability and livability remain persistent problems. Urban sprawl becomes an issue when most jobs are scattered, commutes are long and unpredictable, and public transport coverage is a heavy burden on taxpayers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

My point here is that space alone is not the be-all and end-all of Singapore\u2019s housing challenges.\u00a0<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s the reason we can\u2019t solely rely on, for instance, reclaiming more land, or try to incentivise a bunch of people to go live on Kusu island or something. Without equal and convenient\u00a0 access to jobs, healthcare, and schools, having cheaper outskirts is not a real solution. Instead, they\u2019re just trade-offs that certain people can afford.<\/p>\n

\n

More from Stacked<\/p>\n

This is Part 9 of our 18-part first-time home buyer series. You may refer to the full table below:<\/p>\n

\n Ryan J. Ong<\/span> \u00b7
\n 9 Jun 2020<\/span> \u00b7
\n 0 comments<\/span>\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

And there\u2019s also another factor that matters. Singapore is an ageing society. Getting seniors to live in areas further from urban centers to meet their housing affordability needs is a healthcare problem waiting to happen.\u00a0<\/p>\n

By this, I don\u2019t just mean they\u2019re further from hospitals, although that\u2019s certainly a part of it. I mean being further from family tends to result in more loneliness and isolation, and fewer ways to remain relevant in the economy.<\/p>\n

In an ironic way, what we often call Singapore\u2019s greatest challenge \u2013 being a small country \u2013 may also be one of our greatest strengths.<\/h2>\n

Because of our relatively small land size, infrastructure development tends to be more uniform with long-term planning. The MRT and bus network, access to clinics, groceries don\u2019t taper off as sharply the further you go from the city centre. In fact to foreigners, it may seem quite miraculous how it doesn\u2019t taper off at all<\/em>. What truly critical<\/em> service can you find in Orchard that you cannot find in Yishun or Punggol?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Which circles back to the original point. The solution to housing challenges is seldom just \u201cmore land\u201d and some of the foreign government incentives towards repopulation clearly demonstrate this. The main challenge is making most areas ideal for development liveable. In that sense, Singapore\u2019s small size may be to our advantage, as decentralisation and urban planning is a lot easier.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Although I still really <\/em>hope I don\u2019t see a $2.5 million flat in the OCR in my lifetime.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Meanwhile in other property news\u2026<\/h2>\n