SINGAPORE - From this August, incoming freshmen at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) will be guaranteed a residential place on campus in their first two years, up from the current guaranteed first-year stay.

NTU president Professor Bertil Andersson announced this at his annual State of the University Address on Thursday (March 16), which was attended by 1,700 staff, students and alumni.

"Demand has always been high and we have been doing a lot of construction in the last few years to meet the demand. Talk to any NTU graduate and they will tell you that living on campus is something not to be missed," he said.

In September 2016, NTU opened three new halls of residence, offering 2,100 more places to students. In August 2017, another three new halls will be added at Nanyang Crescent, which will cater to another 1,820 students.

By then, NTU will have 24 halls of residence and about 14,200 undergraduates can live on campus, fulfilling over 90 per cent of the current demand.

A residential place on campus is highly sought after with places awarded to seniors based on a competitive entry point system.

Prospective student Siti Aisyah Daniyah Mahmood, 18, who visited the NTU campus during its open house two weeks ago, said: "The idea of staying in a university campus is really exciting. It would be easier to participate in group activities in the evening with friends, and if I ever needed to borrow a book or do research, I just need to take a short stroll down to the library."

The residential halls are in NTU's main campus in the far west of Singapore, near the Jurong West extension area. NTU has another campus in Novena.