When the Design, Build, and Sell Scheme (DBSS) was around, there were a lot of negative comments. Complaints about poor finishing, and excessively high prices, meant the scheme was short-lived: we saw only 13 DBSS projects enter the market before the entire scheme was suspended. And yet, DBSS flats today often set new price records, despite their initially rocky reception. This has given rise to the question: have DBSS flats reliably outperformed “regular” flats? We took a look at the results so far:
A quick note on the DBSS flats
For those who aren’t clear about what we’re talking about, please see this article for an explanation of DBSS projects. We’ve also included a list of all 13 DBSS projects there. As a quick summary: DBSS flats were built by private developers but are HDB flats (and will never be privatised). They have unique layouts not common to many HDB flats, such as high ceilings and picture windows, but they do not...