Property Details
The Sale
Gillman Heights was sold collectively in 2007 for S$548 million to a joint venture comprising CapitaLand (60%), Hotel Properties Limited (25%), and the National University of Singapore (15%).
The Redevelopment – The Interlace
CapitaLand redeveloped the site into The Interlace, designed by Ole Scheeren of OMA – a stacked-block residential design that won World Building of the Year 2015.
HUDC Background & History
Origin (1974) – The Housing & Urban Development Company was incorporated in February 1974 as a private company equally owned by the Housing & Development Board (HDB), the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), and Primary Industries Enterprises Pte Ltd. Its mandate: build housing for non-property-owning middle-income Singaporeans whose monthly family income did not exceed S$4,000 – households who didn’t qualify for HDB flats (then capped at S$1,500/month for a 5-room) but couldn’t afford private homes either.
Initial programme – The first 1,600 HUDC flats were built across the Lakeview, Farrer, East Coast, Braddell and Amber estates. Between 1976 and 1982, HUDC sold 2,732 units. Flats were typically high-rise, larger than HDB equivalents, and located in good or exclusive areas comparable to private condominiums of the era.
CPF financing – Buyers could initially use only half their CPF Ordinary Account contributions toward the 20% deposit and each of six instalments. From 1983, buyers of new HUDC flats could use their entire CPF Ordinary Account. From 1986, this concession was extended to resale HUDC buyers.
Transferred to HDB (1982) – In 1982, the estates of HUDC and Jurong Town Corporation were transferred to HDB, making HDB Singapore’s sole national housing authority. HDB built an additional 5,275 HUDC units before the scheme was discontinued in 1987 – by then the property downturn of the mid-1980s had left over 1,000 HUDC units unsold and demand had declined.
Privatisation programme (1995-2017) – The Government announced HUDC privatisation on 24 May 1995 to meet rising aspirations of Singaporeans for private home ownership and to give residents direct control of estate management. Pine Grove and Gillman Heights were the 1995 pilot, having lobbied for the scheme. Privatisation required 75% of owners in each estate to vote in favour, converting their leases into strata titles. The 22-year programme ended in March 2017 with the privatisation of Braddell View – the largest of the 18 HUDC estates.
Why HUDC matters today – Once privatised, HUDC owners hold strata title to land in mature, well-located districts with generous plot ratios. This has made privatised HUDC estates among the most-watched collective sale (en-bloc) candidates in Singapore. Amberville set the precedent in 2006 as the first HUDC estate to be sold collectively. Several large HUDC en-bloc deals have followed – Farrer Court (S$1.34B in 2007), Tampines Court (S$970M in 2017), and Eunosville (S$765.78M in 2017) among them.
Sources: NLB Singapore Infopedia – Housing and Urban Development Company (Mazelan Anuar). HDB press release dated 17 March 2017 – HUDC Chapter Closes with the Privatisation of Braddell View. NewspaperSG digitised Straits Times archives.