"TELL me what is more inhuman?
Giving a young person an opportunity to buy an affordable first apartment in a good location, or making people cough up $1,700 psf for a 99-year leasehold residential unit in the suburbs or HDB townships?"
That was the reaction of Oxley Holdings boss Ching Chiat Kwong when asked about recent arguments against "shoebox apartments".
Oxley has been at the forefront of "shoebox" developments, with projects in locations within the city, in the Bukit Timah and East Coast areas and elsewhere around the island.
But in recent weeks, these apartments have been the subject of heated debate and discussions within property and official circles.
Two weeks ago, CapitaLand chief executive officer Liew Mun Leong said in a Bloomberg report that Singapore should curb the increasing trend of shoebox apartments.
"I am dead against shoebox developments," he said. "The government should intervene. Singapore's land is very precious and you are wasting your scarce resources (by building shoebox apartments)."
"It's almost inhuman, it's not good for the welfare of the family to feel that constrained," said Mr Liew, who, according to the report, grew up in a one-bedroom apartment with nine people and often slept along the corridor.
A week earlier, the government said that it was concerned that shoebox apartments were mushrooming in the country as private home sales surged to a three-year high with record purchases of units that are smaller than 500 sq ft.
Mr Ching said that "when a young man or woman leaves the parent's home for the first time, they want a nice affordable pad which provides adequate personal space".
"This is a first purchase. In time, they will upgrade, as they get married, and have children. But they can leverage on this first purchase to upgrade to a larger unit. Tell me, what is inhuman about that?"
His reference to $1,700 psf properties would not have been lost on buyers of CapitaLand's Sky Habitat in Bishan.
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Originally Posted by phantom_opera
