SINGAPORE - The Housing Development Board (HDB) on Wednesday launched 3,995 new flats for sale under the February 2015 Build-To-Order (BTO) exercise.

These flats are spread across five projects located in the non-mature towns of Bukit Batok and Hougang, and the mature town of Geylang.

This is the first batch of the 16,900 BTO flats that HDB has planned for 2015, HDB said in a release on Wednesday.

-- GRAPHIC: HDB

To better help flat buyers plan their finances and flat purchase, from this sales exercise onwards, flat applicants who intend to take out an HDB housing loan will also need to produce a valid HDB Loan Eligibility (HLE) letter at the point of booking a flat, HDB said.

Previously, they only needed to produce the HLE letter when they sign the Agreement for Lease, which is four months after booking a flat.

The latest batch of BTO flats comprise Studio Apartments (SAs), 2-room to 5-room flats, as well as Three-Generation(3Gen) flats, to meet the diverse housing needs of first-timers, second-timers, multi-generation families, elderly and singles.

First-timers will continue to enjoy priority flat allocation, with at least 85 per cent for 4-room and 5-room flats, and 70 per cent for 2-room and 3-room flats of the BTO public flat supply set aside for them. Eligible first-timer singles have the option of applying for a 2-room flat in West Edge @ Bukit Batok, Buangkok ParkVista and Buangkok Tropica.

-- GRAPHIC: HDB

Married or courting couples who wish to live with their parents can apply for a 3Gen flat being offered in Bukit Batok for the first time. Other multi-generation families who wish to live near each other in the same BTO project can apply for flats in West Edge @ Bukit Batok, MacPherson Spring, Buangkok ParkVista or Buangkok Tropica under a Multi-Generation Priority Scheme. Under this scheme, HDB will set aside up to 15 per cent of the Studio Apartments, 2-room and 3-room flats in a BTO project for parents. The same number of 2-room and bigger flats will be set aside in the same BTO project for their married children.

-- GRAPHIC: HDB

Eligible first-timer families can enjoy up to $60,000 of housing grants, comprising the Additional CPF Housing Grant up to $40,000 and the Special CPF Housing Grant up to $20,000. With these grants, 2-room, 3-room, 4-room and 5-room flats can be purchased from $13,000, $108,000, $220,000 and $340,000 respectively.

-- GRAPHIC: HDB