17 March

Singapore has one of the highest rates of home ownership in the world. How did it do it? Public housing, built by the government. Every newlywed is offered a cheap apartment, on a 99-year lease. 80% of the country now lives in these apartments. They can be sold with certain conditions, and make good profits, so they're not ghettos only for the poor. And because each younger person is offered an apartment at the cheap price, those sales don't exclude young people from home ownership. And people look after them and decorate them beautifully because they know they can make great money from them. The only way housing is ever affordable is if government is the main property developer.