• Housing provision has been a perennial challenge since the British colonial era. In 1927, the colonial government established the Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT) to oversee town planning, infrastructure construction and other issues related to the development of the city.
• In 1932, facing a serious housing shortage, the Singapore Government tasked the SIT to provide housing for lower-income groups. Between 1947 and 1959, the SIT built 20,907 new housing units, but this was still not enough to meet demand.
• In 1960, the Singapore government established the Housing & Development Board (HDB) to take over SIT’s role. Initially, HDB only provided rental units, but from 1964, the Home Ownership Scheme allowed flats to be sold with a 99-year lease. These flats are commonly known as “HDB flats”, or “组屋” in Mandarin.
• HDB flats come in several types, including 2-room flats, 2-room Flexi, 3-room, 4-room, 5-room, 3-generation (3Gen), and Executive flats.

According to the Housing & Development Board’s updated list of Sale of Balance Flats, a total of 243 units are available for purchase, of which 20% (49 units) are 3Gen flats located in Bukit Panjang and Woodlands. (Lianhe Zaobao, 27/8/2019)

国民住房 (Mainland China), 国民住宅 (Taiwan), 国宅 (Taiwan), 公屋 (Hong Kong)