Selling the government land using the beauty contest method has many advantages as it forces the developers to think more in terms of what they are going to build, than to see who can cough up the most money. This will also help smaller developers too as they can show how innovative their designs can be.
An example of a beauty contest for HDB land that I wish may happen:
Submit a bid and detail the following in the proposal:
- the maximum sale price for each type of apartment that will allow the buyer to complete the purchase using 35% of $10,000/month for a period of 20 years.
- the size of the proposed apartments and reasons supporting the design
- the quality of finishes and energy conservation aspects of the design
- the proposed date on the completion of project
Won't that be nice? Don't think it will happen though.
4 comments:
If I do recall, the beauty contest method of awarding state land so far applies only to the 2 casinos (or the high class name of 'Integrated Resorts' used by our Gahmen). This exception I reckon is because the investment amount is very large and there are many qualitative factors to consider such as architectural and aesthetic merits, tourism attractions being packaged etc.
Historically for state land sales, the simplest and most objective method is based on the highest price tendered, because the state earns the highest revenue and the system is transparent. If based on beauty contest or other methods, there will always be disgruntled losers blaming the decision makers for bias or even 'corruption' if things do not fit their expectations.
I do not agree that the only objective of selling state land, which is only 99 years by the way, is to earn the highest possible revenue.
Any eyesore will stick out like a sore thumb since Singapore is so small. Therefore, it's in the government's interest to ensure that quality projects are built on state land.
Using the yardstick of what I've written is indirectly asking the developers how much profit they are aiming for building HDB public housing. The developer with a sustainable plan and reasonable profit margin will win the tender.
The yardstick which I've put is not conclusive and can be further tightened. The government should not act only as a for profit company and should take into account other aspects of the reason of selling state land.
Personal opinion.
A simple but I think effective way to keep land and finished flat prices ( and effectively developers profits) within reasonable limits is to simply require that DBSS flats in a resale be sold back only to the HDB at a price at HDB's discretion. There is the free mkt principle still at work but HDB, developer and end buyer will not be carried away and try to exploit subsidised public housing for their own ends.
Asking HDB to determine a reasonable selling price of a HDB flat is opening another can of worms. Where is the magic number coming from? Remember that the first-time buyers and the current owners are on opposite fences.
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