Tag: HDB

HDB Can Learn From Swedish House Of Clicks Experiment

Known as the House of Clicks, this Swedish house was the brainchild of Hemnet, a property-listing website based in Sweden.

Between January and October 2014, this was what Hemnet did with data gathered from two million Hemnet users:

200 million clicks. 86 000 residential properties. That’s the foundation that the Hemnet Home is built on. This is data from visits and properties that were for sale on Hemnet between January and October 2014. In addition to this data, we conducted an image analysis of the most clicked properties over a six week period. Each week the images from the 50 most clicked properties were analysed to gather additional data about the interiors. For example: the colours of the walls, floor types or kitchen countertop materials.

Hemnet then took the results to architects Tham & Videgård who then designed a house which Hemnet calls ‘Sweden’s most sought after home’.

Here’s the result:

The exterior is in a Falu red reminiscent of classic Swedish wooden cottages and the house is in a ‘functionalist box’ shape – two popular traits voted by the Swedes.

Before we see the interior, the specifications of the house are as follows:

Kitchen:

57% of respondents wanted an open-concept kitchen. The architects added that what people want is a ‘social kitchen’ where the living room is in the kitchen and not the other way round. The kitchen with its double-height 5.6m ceiling is the heart of the home.

Living area:

Gray sofas, hardwood floors and fireplaces are some of the features Swedes wanted the most.

Toilet with skylight:

A white theme for the toilets to match its deep red terracotta tiled floors.

Bedroom connected to partially enclosed rooftop terrace:

The rooftop terrace can be converted into an extra room to meet future needs.

Floorplan:

Are you taking notes already, HDB?

Will we see HDB replicate the House of Clicks – two-storied goodness complete with a rooftop terrace? Highly doubtful as it caters to Swedish taste.

However, the manner in which the house was designed is worth a study. Using big data to aggregate preferences is something HDB should consider since it builds homes for more than 80% of the population here.

If HDB were to conduct such a study, the first thing to go in all HDB flats would probably be the ~~over-packed steel-lined store room~~ bomb shelter.

Source: http://mothership.sg

August 3, 2015
This Family Ditches HDB For A Camper Van

Meet the Ong family.

In a time when Singapore’s fertility rate is crashing and where couples do not want to get married, here is a couple whom not only raised 6 adorable children, but also home schools all of them! (Just in case you don’t know what home-schooling is, it is a practice where families don’t send their children to school and educates them personally at home instead)

The husband is a middle-income earner and the wife is not in paid employment. Yes, they get by very well and live in a 5 room HDB apartment.

Of late, they’ve decided to ditch the HDB and travel across the United States for the next 6 months – just for the experience!

In an email interview, I toss them the whys, whens, hows and whos of their trip!

Ok, for the record…how many kids do you have and how old are they?

We have a lovely brood of 6 kids! Asher is 15, then Abigail 13, Isaac 11, Isaiah 9, Magdalena 6, and Michaela 3. Completely Singaporean, born and bred.

In a climate where Singaporeans are getting married very late, or not getting married at all…please tell us: why?

I got married at the age of 23 and became a mom at 24. I never imagined I would have 6 kids. God, we say, has a sense of humour. I tell people that if I knew on my wedding day I would eventually become the mom to SIX, I might not have gotten married! Haha!

But when I had our first born, Asher, I found myself feeling very privileged to have a brand new human being to mould and bring up right and I felt keenly aware of enormity of the task. So I quite my teaching job and became a SAHM (Stay At Home Mother).

Life became very busy with three and then when no. 4 came along…I then began to doubt. How on earth I would handle having 4 kids all under the age of 5?!

But as Christians, it is about learning to lean on God’s strength and not our own. It turned out fine and the next two children just added to all the fun and ruckus.

So let me get this straight – your husband took a sabbatical and both of you decided to say “let’s go to America for a 6 month road trip?”

Well, the sequence of events began first with Dan making the decision to do something different with his job situation. He made the move and resignd from his teaching job.

Since we were between jobs, I asked him (begged actually) please, can we do this trip to America?

It has been my childhood dream to visit America but it just wasn’t possible with the growing family. The cost of the airplane tickets to fly the entire family over there is already such a big expense, we couldn’t go for just a short while. It wouldn’t justify the expense. And we never had the chance to go for a longer period because of Dan’s job commitments. So being between jobs was the best time.

Thankfully, Dan, after much prayer and consideration, decided to take the plunge and do something that most Singaporeans don’t, won’t, maybe can’t do. Other families send their children to school and have school schedules to follow. We homeschool our kids, so we don’t have to worry as much about tests and exams and the schedule/curriculum is up to us to manage. Hence, from June 2015 till December 2015, we are in America on a road trip!

We see this as a grand family adventure that the children and us will look back on as something we did together. Our firstborn is going to either go into NS or poly in a short 3 years’ time and family life will be different for us then. So we really cherish whatever time we have left together, having all the kids with us. And hence, this trip.

What about money? What about the cold? What about being in a strange land with no help?

Money
As for finances, we are using mostly our savings and have some (voluntary) help from the grands. We’ve put the monthly mortgage payments totally on our CPF so that’s taken care of.

We acquired a 16 year old Chevrolet and an old but very comfy pop-up camper that sleeps 8. This will take care of our traveling cost on the road as well as accommodations. These, we will sell at the end of the trip to re-coup some of cost as well. This was the plan that our American friends, the Meyers, taught us.

Our low expense trip is mostly about visiting friends, spending time with them. That is more meaningful to us anyway! We enjoy talking to the locals and learning more about their lifestyle and hearing their stories. As for activities, we are going for the national parks and to enjoy the beauty of the land and the mountains… no Disneyland nor Universal Studios trips for us!

The Cold
It is summer now and scorching hot. We get to ease into the cold weather so hopefully we can adjust. We did bring all our stash of winter clothing and coats (took up a whole luggage bag just on its own.) And whatever we lack, we can find at the second hand shops in the US like Goodwill. We love Goodwill!!!

It will be our first experience with snow. Rather than fear it, we’re looking forward to the wintery cold!

Being in a strange land with no help
Well, we are entirely not without help. On the contrary, we have seen hospitability every step of the way and very, very well taken care of by our American friends.

The blessings of help are mostly from Christian friends we met back in Singapore, and several are new Baptist friends we met online. Our missionary buddies, the Meyers, whom we spent time with when they were in Singapore, are back in the US at this time. They went out of the way to source and acquire a car and also the pop-up for us. It was great help. They had to drive out for hours and hours to check out the car.

Our other Christian friends have taken us out, organised cook outs, and just been so kind to make us feel so at home with them. We are so touched by their love towards us, strangers from afar!

Many people around the world (and not only in Singapore) watch TV and formulate their impression of the American people based on Desperate Housewives or the Simpsons (I’m not very up to date with the latest trash on TV).

American media is doing such an injustice to so much of the general populace. We’ve met many good, polite, honest and, I must add, hardworking American people. I have met many very well mannered (homeschooled) teenagers who will greet me as Ma’am. Their parents are doing a great job! It is just so rare even in Singapore!

Do you think Singaporeans are just too worried about EVERYTHING?
I’m not sure how to answer this question! But I do believe, yes, we have a tendency to be overly cautious. We call it being pragmatic. We are afraid that one mis-step will cost us greatly and there is no way to recover from the mistake.

Do we worry that when we return from our trip with most of our savings drained, what will happen after that? Yes, of course.

But we have learned this precious truth: time is more expensive than money. Money lost can still be earned but time lost will never come back. So we are taking this leap and choosing a very special time with the kids and each other, and work on earning money later.

We have a plan to monetize this trip by writing a travelogue of our travels. We thought the title of the book could be “6 Kids and a Pop-Up Camper”. Do look for us on Facebook as we share about where we have been! Ha,ha.. Please like the page and keep in touch!

Tell us about your approach to life.
It is hard to narrow it all down but if I had a big overarching “approach” it would be:

Carpe Diem. Seize the Day. Live life without regrets.
“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.” Ecclesiastes 9:10

Now tell us about your trip: what did you do? Where did you first land? What are you guys gonna do? Anything exciting happened along the way? Most memorable? When are you coming back? Are you gonna stay there for good?

22nd July marks the end of our first month in America. We landed in Chicago on the 22nd of June. What a tremendous time of learning and adapting to and experiencing so many new things!

We have driven through and sometimes across 8 states: Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. We have travelled approximately 3764km (or the equivalent of driving from Singapore to southern China.)

We have met many American people, heard their stories of life- stories of family, work, coping with health issues, coping with making a living under the heavy burden of taxes and insurance, city life, farm living. Stories of heart break, and waiting for the return of happier times. Stories of joy and fun.

We have camped in state parks out in the middle of pretty much no where, camped under a pecan tree of a friend’s yard, stayed in lovely and posh homes, a log cabin in the beautiful Blue Ridge mountains, a house that was built just after the civil war.

We have done things that we couldn’t do back home in Singapore – like the 15 yr old shooting a live round from a gun, live on a farm with cows, chickens and miniature horses, (hypnotize chickens and then throwing them into the air, the boys did), swim in a lake, float down a Creek on a rubber donut, see the northern skies at night and the splendor of all the starry hosts.

So many things!

But I think the most memorable is the stars. We sat out on the deck of our friend’s log cabin out in the Blue Ridge Mountains and looked up into the northern sky. The whole sky, sprinkled with stars. It is something we really miss in Singapore because of the light pollution.

Anyway, it’s been a tremendous time.

Join the Facebook page for more updates of where we have been on 6 Kids and a Pop-up Camper! ?

Any National Day messages for us back home?
Singaporeans really have so much to be thankful for. We really sound stupid if we complain about our country because compared to so many others (even, Americans) we have it so much better.

We do not live in fear of personal safety. Where we are currently at, there is a drug related gang activity just around the corner of the street. We were told not to wander out of the property at night.

Our medical costs are so highly subsidized and we have access to good doctors. We have access to good jobs, and we don’t have to travel far at all to get work or school.

Americans have to move to another state sometimes to land a job, so what are we complaining about???

We really cannot complain about our taxes being even up to 60% of our income as many American middle class here are facing.

Cherish Singapore, folks! Work together to make it better! It is but a little red dot but it is our piece of heaven on earth.

We are sad to be away in the year our Singapore celebrates her 50th birthday, but it has taken this journey away to learn how good we have it in Singapore.

Happy 50th Birthday, Singapore!!!

We love you!!!

Source: www.fivestarsandamoon.com

July 28, 2015

How Much Does It Really Cost To Renovate A HDB Flat?

Renovating a HDB flat is one of the few big-ticket items in Singapore that most couples will need to spend money on. To renovate a house is not cheap, contrary to what some articles on social media sometime suggests. It gets even more challenging when one hears of horror stories dealing with errant contractors and even sometimes, interior designers.

So how much does it really cost to renovate a HDB flat? Are those articles touting beautiful renovation works at $35,000 believable?

$56,000 to renovate a HDB Flat

According to Qanvast, which is a platform allowing Singapore homeowners to compare design inspirations from a pool of interior designers, the average renovation amount spent on a typical HDB flat is about $56,000.

If that seems a little higher than what you were originally expecting, it is time to be realistic about how much home renovation can actually cost you. Truth is, unless you spend a lot of effort doing it yourself, home renovations are rarely cheap. Of course, a renovation package will appear “cheap” by not including some costs.

Here are some things you might want to know before signing on the dotted line for your renovation package.

1. Be Careful Of Photos showing 3D perspective

It is common for interior designers to showcase beautiful pictures of their portfolio of work. One thing when reviewing their portfolio is to differentiate between 3D perspective and actual photos of completed work.

One easy way to differentiate between the two is to simply look at the window within the photo. If it’s a 3D perspective, the view from the window will look like one that is too good to be true.

2. Additional (important) works not included

If your renovation package price appears quite low from the perspective that your interior designer have done up for you, it is worth noting that there are some additional works that are probably not included as part of the package price. Here are some common items.

Item	Price
Cost of lights plus electrician	$4000
Cost of curtains	$1000
Window grills	$500
Air Conditioning	$3500
Cement Screeding	$1000
Total	$10,000

Our price range is an estimate but even then, you can see that it is not difficult for an additional $10,000 to be included in the package. These are additional money that you will need on top of what you are paying for the renovation package. We are also assuming that your interior designer or contractor is honest enough to include all the costs instead of hiding some.

3. Additional cost of furnishing

If this is your first home, you probably do not own any existing furniture yet. New homeowners can expect to spend anything between $10,000 to $20,000 to furnish their home.

Here is a non-exhaustive list of furniture and electronics that you will need.

Item	Price
Kitchen Appliances	$2000
Fridge	$1000
Washing Machine	$1000
Television	$750
Dining Table Set	$750
Sofa Set + Coffee Table	$1500
Study Table Set	$1000
Queen Sized Bed	$2000
Total	$10,000

The amount that we have estimated does not include other items such as additional beds for your children, wardrobes for the bedrooms and the storage racks for your household shelter. It also does not include the cost of bathroom accessories and your dressing table.

4. Ensuring the renovation package covers what you really need

Renovation packages can sometimes be one size fit all packages. A sales person may promise you everything under the sun before the contract is signed and then transform into the most inflexible person after your deposit is received. Hence, it is important for you to understand each and every item that you are paying for and the justification for the price quoted.

In our opinion, the best thing to do is to sign the agreement after you have received your house keys to ensure that your interior designer has already done the relevant measurements in your home before quoting their price.

You want a quotation based on the actual dimensions and needs of your home, and not one that is simply a ballpark figure.

5. NOT getting a package from a road show

Getting a package from road shows is almost always a bad idea. There are a few reasons for that.

Firstly, the salesperson that you might be talking to may simply just be that, a sales person. He or she may not be the actual person you will be working with after the contract is signed. The sales person may promise you things that the company cannot deliver.

Secondly, any package signed during a road show is likely to be subjected to future changes on your part. However, there is no guarantee that the company is going to be flexible with these changes. If you wish to remove an unnecessary item thereafter, they may not reduce the price.

On the other hand, it is almost a given that any additional item you need that is not included in the renovation package will be an added cost, even if it was the sales person who had forgotten to include it.

Lastly, never ever fall for the trick that sales people like to use by saying that “locking in your package price a year before your house is ready will hedge you against inflation”.

As finance writers, we all know that the underlying risk of inflation have to be borne by someone. Are interior designers and their companies really going to hedge in their material price? We highly doubt so.

Do your own research

Rather than be at the mercy of information provided by sales people, homeowners can do their own research first to better understand the market and their own needs and wants.

Qanvest is a great platform for anyone who wants to get started in understanding the industry. The platform showcase various designs by interior designers in Singapore and help people understand the renovation decisions that they will be making. Ultimately, knowledge is essential in being able to make a good choice on the type of interior designer that you will want to work with.

Source: http://dollarsandsense.sg

July 22, 2015

3000+ Punggol Residents Fed-Up With Their BTO Flats

In Parliament yesterday (13 Jul), Minister of State for National Development Desmond Lee, who is the son of former PAP cabinet minister Lee Yock Suan, told the House that the quality of BTO flats undertaken by HDB has actually improved.

He cited the CONQUAS score which measures the quality of buildings, showing that the quality of BTO flats has improved 13% from a score of 79 in 2003 to 89 in 2014.

The quality of the flats has not been compromised despite a ramping up of BTO projects over the last 4 years, Mr Lee claimed. “It (quality) continues to rise and is comparable to that in private developments,” he said.

He said that the majority of complaints with regard to the defects in new BTO flats are about “surface imperfections” such as hairline cracks on walls, scratches on timber floor, or uneven tile joints.

“Such imperfections are mostly within acceptable industry norms and these are also common in private developments. They can and should be rectified quickly by the contractors, and do not affect the structural integrity or safety of the building.”

Mr Lee argued that sometimes, it’s due to “differences in the understanding of what constitutes a defect”.

“For example, some owners have given feedback on colour inconsistencies for floors with timber finishes. As timber is a natural product, it is not possible to achieve a perfectly homogenous look,” he said.

Mr Lee assured the House that HDB has “zero tolerance” for defects which may compromise structural or safety standards.

“Flooding” at Punggol Waterway Terraces BTO flats

Just when Mr Lee tried to assure the House that BTO flats from HDB are of “high quality”, residents at the new Punggol Waterway Terraces BTO flats posted comments today (14 Jul) on their resident Facebook group, Punggol Waterway Terraces I [Link], complaining about rain water seeping into their flats from last night’s heavy downpour. Not only that, lift alarm was triggered waking everyone up.

Resident, Johnny Chiang of Blk 308A wrote the following letter to their PAP MP Janil Puthucheary highlighting the problems the residents are facing with their BTO flats:

Sir, I trust that everything is good and well on your side. It is with a heavy heart I Pen this issue on behalf of 3000+ residents because very obviously – Everything is NOT going well for the residents of Waterway Terraces 1.

Apart from the previous issues including the 4 pipes placed awkwardly etc which we did not get much resolution from.

Last night’s heavy downpour had caused several issues for many of us.

At approx 2 am rain started pouring in and it seeped into the homes of many of our residents.

This was accompanied by the ringing of lift alarm which woke most residents up. The Fire brigade were activated by our residents because we had to ensure if it was a no duff situation then help was rendered.

Yes I agree that when mother nature decides to make her point, there isnt much anybody can do. But it also sets many of us wondering why many of our homes came with so much flaws.

BSC has not been the best source of resolutions.

I tag you here on social media on considerations for your administrators, because if we were to all write in, you would receive tons of the same email.

For one, I do not believe in 200 emails to make a point across and sincerely seek your understanding on our intentions and voices together with much frustrations.

I now invite all the affected residents to post their images and videos of the happenings last night and request that your good self, Our Honourable MP respond with your opinions.

Yours sincerely

Johnny Chiang
On behalf of my neighbours of blk 308A
And residents affected by the issues

Other residents also joined in the discussion in their Facebook group:

Fabian Lau: Alarm nt happen once already..twice since move in..first one is alarm twice..2am and 3am..last night just lighting and tio alarm..what alarm is that,if 100% move in i dont know what resident will say..this alarm really got problem and linked with wwt2…as for quality wise..the balcony door lock is not good will open itself when u lock other side ever though u lock both side..but i just close one eye..bsc is useless and just bear with it ..i guess all window is not heavy rain proof..just that few unit last night due to wind direction kanna..if next time wind direction change another side..new set of resident complain the window problem..water sit in etc …

Jason Li: Home means the last stronghold for us. No matter how it looks, protecting us from wind and rain is the most basic functionality

Jo Lene: Johnny Chiang thanks for voicing out for us. I have not move into my unit yet but I’m starting to worry about the “not rain proof” Windows n balcony doors… I saw videos n photos of the rain this morning, it was really scary that the rain can just sip in like that…

Zeoane Goh: house living room n service bay slightly flooded. Cleaned up till 230am! :0 Rain was super big and big wind. Water seeped into living room thru the roller door at balcony.

Xue Fang: Our living room, common rooms and master bed room were all affected as well…. can you imagine waking up with rain droplets on your face? Seriously, what premium price we paid to deserve this? Fire alarm goes off in the middle of the night and lasted for a while while we clean up the mess…. what a nightmare!

Eric Loh: Pissed off with the lvl of work and still dare to say in news everything is up to standard in news. What the hell is hdb doing. I doing to support my buddy Johnny Chiang but honestly i don’t think janil puthhcheary will bother. I have come to a point which i have given up hope on all this people which so call said they will “help us”. Dont find reasons for ur mistake, find a solution please. No one in wwt1 which paid 300 over thousand excluding intereste will be happy about it.

Candee Tan: Have anyone consider taking this to the media??

Benny Ong: If we go on holidays, and another storm comes along while we’re away with electrical appliances on the floor, the house is at Super high risk of catching fire!

Jenny Yang: OMG, I just happily got my keys last week, but now I am so disapointed. Stupid project, should ask them to compensate us for instaling windows at our balcony. Hi Johnny, appreciate your precious voices, hope they will do something about it. Thank you so much.

Li Elle: water bubbling at the rails of 2 common bedrooms connected balcony, sip into our timber wood slightly too.

At 13:52pm today (14 Jul), MP Puthucheary finally responded. He said he had contacted HDB and the town council:

This is not the first time news of defects in Punggol Waterway Terraces surface. Last month, sociopolitical site The Online Citizen reported [Link] a BTO flat owner of Punggol Waterway Terraces, Adrian Chong, complained that the contractors who were supposed to fix the reported defects in his flat, ended up creating even more defects.

Mr Chong noted that his parquet flooring got worse after the contractors tried to rectify some defects. A defective pipe was left unchanged. New defects kept appearing each day as the contractors tried to resolve old problems.

“There are some defects which pictures won’t be able to tell much, like loosening of the rubber tracks for the sliding doors at the balcony and service yards.” said Mr Chong.

“Considering the amount we paid for the flat, we did not expect to see such bad defects or bad workmanship. Water pressure of the tap, shower head and toilet flushing were also weak. Timber skirting around the house were also painted with white paint making it looked so cheapskate,” lamented Mr Chong on the quality of the furnishings.

The defects were submitted to the building service centre set up by the building contractor, and Mr Chong was given an appointment to have a joint inspection with the supervisor to highlight and go through the defects.

However, Mr Chong faced difficulties in getting the contractors to do a decent job without incurring new defects as they tried to rectify existing ones.

“As working personnel, we do not have the luxury of time to keep going down to the unit to rectify the defects and monitor them. They (the contractors) delayed our renovation plans as we cannot start our renovation without having them to rectify the existing defects first.”

He added that as a flat owner, the minimum expectations are to provide his family a unit that is free from defects and good enough to live in comfortably.

This is especially so considering the fact that at Punggol Waterway Terraces, a 3-room flat ranges from $186,000 to $237,000 while a 5-room flat costs between $374,000 and $458,000.

Other netizens wonder why older HDB flats did not seem to have so many problems.

In any case, it’s not known what MP Puthucheary, HDB or the Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council will do about the flooding issue. Pass the buck down to the foreign workers to fix?

Source: www.tremeritus.com

July 15, 2015
HDB Urged To Do More Following Defects In DBSS And BTO Projects

The role of the Housing and Development Board (HDB) in resolving disputes on defects in Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) projects came under scrutiny in Parliament today (July 13), with Members of Parliament (MP) seeking clarification on the powers the HDB could exercise, and questioning if the authority could do more.

This comes after some DBSS projects, which are built by private developers and marketed at premium prices for better design and finishes, recently made headlines following complaints from residents about the state of their homes, such as Trivelis in Clementi, Centrale 8 in Tampines and Pasir Ris One.

In response to questions about the number of complaints about both DBSS and Build-to-Order (BTO) flats, Minister of State for National Development Desmond Lee said that an average of one-third of all new residents approach the Building Service Centre (BSC) for assistance with defects in BTO flats after collecting their keys.

The vast majority of defects reported are surface imperfections such as hairline cracks on walls, scratches on timber floors or uneven tile joints, he said.

However, similar statistics for DBSS projects were unavailable, as residents facing issues with defects report them to the BSC managed by private developers during the Defects Liability Period (DLP).

Mr Lee pointed out that the ramping up of supply of BTO flats has not compromised quality, given that the number of defects reported has not changed significantly. An independent assessment of building quality by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA), known as the Construction Quality Assessment System score, has shown that BTO flat quality has improved, with scores rising from 79 in 2003 to 89 last year.

For DBSS projects, Mr Lee said the HDB sets broad parameters such as buyer’s eligibility, the mix of flat sizes and facilities, but gives developers flexibility to design, price and construct the flats within requirements set by relevant authorities such as the BCA and the Urban Redevelopment Authority. But the HDB, he added, has “zero tolerance” for defects that compromise structural or safety standards.

Non-Constituency MP Yee Jenn Jong questioned if the DBSS failed its intent to meet housing aspirations of higher-income flat buyers, while Jurong GRC MP David Ong asked about the ministry’s direction with premium flats in future, given the prices narrowing between BTO and DBSS flats.

In response, Mr Lee said there was no need to rush a decision about scrapping the DBSS, which has been suspended since 2011. “We should take time to review this and consider this, as market conditions could be different. There may well be reasons to bring back the DBSS in some form.

“Not to trivialise the defects and concerns that first-time home buyers in particular feels … but I think you shouldn’t … use these current few points that have been in the public eye to condemn the entire scheme as a failure. Many people have indeed lived and made homes in these projects.”

Mr Zaqy Mohamad (Chua Chu Kang GRC) suggested extending the DLP to give residents more time to engage developers or contractors to rectify defects.

He also proposed postponing mortgage payments for homeowners in disputes, citing a similar approach in Australia where payments are withheld until defects are resolved.

Mr Lee reiterated that the sales and purchase agreements provides for the rectification of defects within a year under the DLP. Buyers can also undertake works and file claims with the developers. He stressed that it is not true that “the HDB entirely takes no responsibility” when it comes to differences over DBSS projects.

For instance, the HDB had followed up on concerns from residents living in the Trivelis project with the developer and the advisers to reach a resolution. The developer has made an offer to residents, Mr Lee noted.

Source: www.todayonline.com

July 14, 2015