Minister for National Development Khaw Boon Wan said in a written reply to Parliament that there is ample supply of private housing to meet demand for housing.

The Government also has the resources and capacity to build more than 100,000 Housing Development Board (HDB) flats in the public sector.

Mr Khaw was responding to a question posed by Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) Mr Teo Siong Seng on the HDB and Urban Redevelopment Authority's (URA) plans to meet the projected demand for public and private housing in the next five to 10 years.

"Over the past 5 years, our population grew by 3% per annum on average. In response to the commensurate rise in housing demand, the Government has been ramping up the supply of both public and private housing," he said.

As a result, most first-timers earning below $10,000 a month now have a chance to select a Build-To-Order (BTO) flat if they apply for one.

In the private sector, the supply of sites released via the Government Land Sales (GLS) Programme has also increased.

The Government will continue to monitor and manage population growth and refine Singapore's housing development programme to ensure that supply can meet the projected demand, Mr Khaw said.

In his written reply, Mr Khaw also said that the Government is closely monitoring the trend of shoebox apartments in Singapore.

Mr Teo had asked about the planning guidelines for the sizes of private housing units, especially shoebox apartments.

He raised the concern that such apartments may distort market demand and fail to meet the basic housing standards for Singaporeansa.

Mr Khaw said different residents have different housing needs and budgets. As such, URA does not stipulate absolute minimum sizes for residential units so that developers can cater to different market segments.

However, URA will guide developers to improve overall design, layout and quality of residential development proposals so that the quality of the living environment is not compromised.

paullim@sph.com.sg