History of HDB

 The Housing & Development Board was constructed on 1st February 1960 as a statutory body responsible for Singapore's public housing programme. At that time, Singapore faced housing crisis, majority of Singaporeans were living in unhygienic slums and crowded squatter settlements. Therefore, low-cost housing was built for low-income Singaporeans to tackle the massive housing shortage. Since then, HDB has played an important role in the development of Singapore.

By 1965, it had built 54,000 flats. Moving into the seventies, it concentrated on improving housing standards and encouraging home ownership. In the eighties, it set out to build, not just homes, but communities in self-contained towns. In the nineties and beyond, the challenge is for HDB to respond to aspirations for a better quality lifestyle, one that will continue to remain affordable and innovative. Today, about 84 percent of Singaporeans live in HDB flats.

Waterway Banks BTO Flats in Punggol

The first blocks of HDB flats in Queenstown under construction in 1961.