[HDB'S REPLY]We thank Mr Dennis Tan Seow Koon for his letter (Give HDB resellers more time to sell flats; March 14).

In buying or selling a flat, homebuyers and sellers are encouraged to plan ahead and work out their budget, taking into consideration their financial situation and living arrangements.

The estimated completion dates of Build-to-Order (BTO) flats are indicated during the sales launches.

Buyers who have booked a flat are also updated on the probable completion date about one year before the expected completion.

Thereafter, they will be notified of any changes in the completion date until their new flat is completed.

Hence, they have sufficient time to plan for the sale of their existing flat before they collect the keys to their new flat.

After collecting the keys to their new flat, flat buyers have a 6-month grace period to dispose of their existing flat.

If there is a need for a further extension, HDB will assess requests based on the merits of each case.

With regard to the concern about a glut of HDB flats, we would like to assure Singaporeans that HDB calibrates its supply of new flats carefully, not just to meet housing demand in the short-term, but also with a view towards longer-term demographic and population trends.

This year, we will maintain a steady supply of about 17,000 new flats.

The supply is comparable with the number of flats launched last year, but lower than the peak of about 25,000 in 2013.

Loh Swee Heng

Director (Sales)

Housing & Development Board