It has been the government’s objective to increase ownership of public
housing to achieve a fully home-owning society by the end of the century. As
a result, housing policy has encouraged public housing tenants to become
home owners instead. Initially, the HDB’s policy was to only provide rental
units. Then in 1964, when the government believed that the acute housing
shortage had been eased, the ‘Home Ownership for the People’ Scheme was
introduced to provide and assist people to purchase low-cost flats