EC developer was told not to sell units: URA

[zxiank]

Developers will generally try to sneak in whatever sales they can get based on sentiment, regardless of whether they think "you can afford it" or not. It's not their problem, their aim is just to book sales and profits.

Contrast this with the social obligation of an EC - to provide housing for the population which is affordable and with decent surroundings.

Do I see some conflict of interest here? By the way, ditto for the DBSS as well (private developers involved).

I think the original objective of the EC scheme was good - to help the middle sandwiched class buy private properties at a more affordable price (albeit with more government imposed limitations). However, seemed like now the developers are testing the system and pushing price higher opportunistically. To correct this trend, better government control/regulations should be put in place. Govt need to do more work here..

DBSS was weird though.. Not much of value for people to go for a privately built HDB.. Our HDB architects are doing quite ok with their flat designs. Why do we need private developers to come in and hike up the price along the way? Good thing that Mr Khaw stopped it.