Housing a Nation – The HDB Story

The HDB Story

The Housing and Development Board (HDB) was established on 1 February 1960 with the mission of providing quality and affordable public housing for Singaporeans. In February 2010, HDB celebrated 50 years of Public Housing, a milestone which encapsulates the success story of Singapore’s Home Ownership Programme.

Singapore’s public housing programme has come a long way. In HDB’s initial years, the acute housing shortage that plagued the nation called for a low-cost housing model that could meet the housing needs of the people in the shortest time. Spartan by today’s standards, this utilitarian housing model was however an improvement over the slums and rural settlements that homed many in the 1960s.

Today, more than 900,000 HDB flats shape Singapore’s housing landscape. More than 8 in 10 Singaporeans live in HDB flats, and more than 9 in 10 of them own the flat they live in. HDB has delivered on its housing mission to provide more than just shelter and housing for Singaporeans. Over the last five decades, it has rapidly expanded the housing options to better meet the higher aspirations of a new generation of home owners. HDB flats now come with housing schemes and concepts that embrace lifestyle changes beyond just form and function. It has also launched sustainable and iconic public housing projects that push architectural and technological boundaries to inject greater variety and vibrancy.

With public housing a key pillar in Singapore’s growth and stability, HDB has put in place sound estate management and housing policies and programmes to help upkeep and sustain the physical and fiscal values of HDB flats well into the future. Constant renewal and rejuvenation programmes not only serve to maintain high quality living standards but also help to re-energise communities. Whether it is the design of the built environment or the policies and programmes, fostering greater integration and interaction among residents to create a closely-knit HDB community is fundamental to HDB’s mission.

Singaporeans today regard their HDB flats as not merely roofs over their heads, but also endearing homes where they can raise their families in, forge ties over generations and build strong, harmonious communities. HDB homes have helped anchor Singaporeans and given them a stake in the country and a share in its future.

As an organisation, HDB has undergone many changes. Over the last 50 years, it has undertaken many roles and responsibilities to fulfill its housing mission and vision to the greater benefit of Singaporeans. When the challenge came for HDB to pare down its wide-ranging responsibilities to better focus on its core functions, each change was expeditiously handled. When each HDB town needed to develop its individual character, the estate management function was transferred to local Town Councils in the late 1980s. In 2003, a major restructuring of the organisation re-focused attention back to its core business of providing homes and being a housing authority. Its building arm was corporatised and is now a successful private venture exporting public housing expertise world-wide. Today, HDB, with staff strength of about 4,800, comprising 15 departments and 23 branch offices, is a fitter and stronger outfit with streamlined functions.

Today, HDB continues to plan, develop and renew public housing towns to provide Singaporeans with quality homes and living environments. From planning and design to construction, and through allocation, management and maintenance, it adopts a total approach in housing a nation and fulfilling its vision to be:

An outstanding organisation with people committed to fulfilling aspirations for homes and communities all are proud of 

with the following mission:

We provide affordable homes of quality and value 

We create vibrant and sustainable towns 

We promote the building of active and cohesive communities 

We inspire and enable all staff to give of their best