Just In ,
These are the latest bids for another Black & White Bungalow.
Full details are available to public from the SLA Website. The location is of course much better but the smaller size compensates for it, the GFA is 7554.18sqft sitting on a 103,974.86sqft land.
The top bidder is S$66,999.00 while the lowest is S$18,888.00. It is almost always awarded to the highest bidder in an open tender. Why did 26 & 31 Ridout not attract other bidders for years, was it due to poor maintenance or lack of marketng?
Should the management be privatised for a better ROI?
The leases for 26 Ridout is S$26,500.00 for a GFA (house) 9316.16sqft with a 249,335.22 sqft land (CPIB:28-6-23)
31 Ridout is S$20,000.00 (Updated from initial $19K) for a GFA (house) 8872.69sqft with a 98,569sqft land (CPIB: 28-6-23)
The CPIB investigation brings up several questions and opinions. I'll just pen down my two.
Valuation and best interest
Valuation. How does the Singapore chief valuer values these State lands that are under conservation status vs HDB land? They belong to citizens and increasingly, we are sacrificing nature for public housing yet these colonial houses sitting on massive land are grossly under-utilised with massive maintenance bills and one property costing over S$1million to refurbish. I love heritage buildings and owned a pre-war shophouse so understand the historical value and culture to them but at some point, sensibility must prevail in a land scarce island but then again, with one of the lowest birth rates in the world, who are we constantly building for, foreigners?
There are many privately owned colonial houses that were sold but conserved and developed with a condominium around it. They are Torieview mansions, The Aristo @ Amber, Grand Duchess @ St Patrick and Matilda House just to name a few. 50 Bah Soon Pah road, the lone B&W bungalow on a hill in Nee Soon south is the latest that was earmarked for conservation and redevelopment. That is under Min Shanmugam’s GRC.
Perhaps it is time that SLA along with URA, HDB, architects, heritage board and IRAS should come together and review the use for these properties and find better returns to the state and citizens. Property valuation, gain/loss and rental returns are taxable and involves IRAS.
Also, SLA could review the lease agreements for older contracts but for public information, it is common for their agreements to be 3+3+3 and there are several with 5+2 etc as these State properties that usually require high maintenance and/or long term investments, so tenants will negotiate for longer leases. However, terms could be reviewed to prevent profiteering.
Best Interest
I do wonder what are the thoughts from fellow cabinet colleagues of the two ministers living in such palatial homes when 80% of the citizens live in HDB flats that are on average 1000sqft GFA in dense apartment blocks. Perhaps some soul searching may be necessary but the moment when they chose to ignore that as they did answers you. Furthermore, to sign a contract from a ministry that is headed by you raises unnecessary questions as the conduct of public servants are always scrutinised by voters.
#ridout #bungalow #Singapore #ConflictOfInterest #Bestinterest #Valuation #conservation
