This focus shifted from the late 1960s, with the HDB building flats with improved fittings and offering them for sale.

In the 1990s and 2000s, the HDB introduced upgrading and redevelopment schemes for mature estates, as well as new types of housing intended to cater to different income groups in partnership with private developers.

Efforts to engage residents with upgrading schemes increased in the 2000s and 2010s, and the HDB also began solar panel installation works from the early 2010s.

[5] These efforts culminated in the Housing and Development Bill, which was read to the Legislative Assembly in 1958 and passed the next year.

With the bill's passing, the HDB was formed in February 1960, taking over the SIT's public housing responsibilities.

[8] The HDB also continued the SIT's efforts in building emergency flats in Tiong Bahru, which were mostly used to rehouse people displaced by the Bukit Ho Swee fire in May 1961.

Nevertheless, the Bukit Ho Swee estate marked the beginning of the HDB's resettlement efforts, and kampong dwellers were swiftly rehoused in public housing.

[9] Moreover, with the new housing estates not segregated by race, the HDB facilitated the formation of multiracial communities in place of racially divided ones.

To further these efforts, in the 1970s and 1980s, the HDB introduced residents committees in its housing estates to promote community cohesion, loosened regulations on flat modifications, and engaged in upgrading works.

[14] In addition, the HDB started soliciting feedback from residents through the Sample Household Surveys (SHS) from 1975.

In 2014, together with the Economic Development Board, it initiated the SolarNova programme to handle solar panel installation on government properties and buildings.

[22] The HDB also carries out land reclamation works and handles the infrastructure for Singapore's national resource stockpiles.