May 21, 2023

I posted this on another article, but i think it belongs here too. I say, meet half way and lower the eligibility age to at least 30 and restrict to HDB resale only. If singles have to wait until they 35, they have 3 options, live with parents, rent or buy a private property. Living with parents is economical, but not good for personal growth or even dating for that mater. Renting dips into savings, leaving less or no savings to buy a house after 35. Buying private is only for high earners. By 35, a lot of these singles earn more than Income Ceiling, so BTO is out of the question. Price of a resale HDB by then have gone up even further. We live in a different world compared to a decade ago. Modern dating is hard when living with parents, especially in an asian household. Dating while renting is hard too because of financial constraints and its worse if singles are only renting a room. So this will only lead to a higher chance of these "older" people being single longer or perpetually. We can all agree that Singapore is great country, but it is a stressful country to live in. The mental health of the younger generation is deteriorating. Loneliness adds to that. And not being able to own a home makes it worse. From personal interaction, a lot of my friends have been getting married solely for BTO, that can't be healthy for the society in the long term. There has been a constant increase in rate of divorces in Singapore, leading to more broken families. I'm not saying the current housing policies are the primary cause, but they surely don't help it. Millennial's and the later generation's way of thinking and way of life has changed and the government policies should evolve with that.

I say, meet half way and lower the eligibility age to at least 30 and restrict to HDB resale only. If singles have to wait until they 35, they have 3 options, live with parents, rent or buy a private property. Living with parents is economical, but not good for personal growth or even dating for that mater. Renting dips into savings, leaving less or no savings to buy a house after 35. Buying private is only for high earners. By 35, a lot of these singles earn more than Income Ceiling, so BTO is out of the question. Price of a resale HDB by then have gone up even further. We live in a different world compared to a decade ago. Modern dating is hard when living with parents, especially in an asian household. Dating while renting is hard too because of financial constraints and its worse if singles are only renting a room. So this will only lead to a higher chance of these "older" people being single longer or perpetually. We can all agree that Singapore is great country, but it is a stressful country to live in. The mental health of the younger generation is deteriorating. Loneliness adds to that. And not being able to own a home makes it worse. From personal interaction, a lot of my friends have been getting married solely for BTO, that can't be healthy for the society in the long term. There has been a constant increase in rate of divorces in Singapore, leading to more broken families. I'm not saying the current housing policies are the primary cause, but they surely don't help it. Millennial's and the later generation's way of thinking and way of life has changed and the government policies should evolve with that.