While Singapore is not generally regarded as a welfare state, the provision of housing welfare on a large scale has been a defining feature of its welfare system. The extensive housing system has played a useful role in raising savings and homeownership rates as well as contributing to sustained economic growth in general and development of the housing sector in particular. Few would dispute the description of Singapore’s housing policies as `phenomenally successful’ (Ramesh, 2003). Singapore’s economic growth record in the past four decades has brought it from third world to first world status (Lee, 2000), with homeownership widespread at more than 90 percent for the resident population Singapore is a densely populated high-income city-state with 4.2 million people and a land area of only 697 square kilometers. Of the 4.2 million people in 2004, 3.5 million were residents (citizens and permanent residents) and 0.7 million were foreigners. 1 Its Gross Domestic Product in 2004 was S$181 billion or US$109 billion.2 The World Development Report 2004 estimated Singapore’s 2002 GNI per capita at US$29,610 (using purchasing power parity GNI and exchange rates), ranking it 19th highest in its PPP GNI per capita list.