The Housing Board (HDB) is on track to deliver its 13,600 units planned for completion this year and can deliver its ramped up supply of public flats in a timely manner, said National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan on Monday afternoon.

He was speaking at a handover ceremony of a completed block in Treegrove@Woodlands, which marked the completion of 6,000 units this year. Treegrove@Woodlands is a BTO project comprising seven 16-storey blocks with a total of 784 residential units.

Despite tightening of controls on foreign manpower, HDB will still be able to deliver its promised 26,000 to 29,000 flats next year and the year after, assured Mr Khaw. This is because HDB uses prefabrication construction, where materials are assembled elsewhere, transported onto the construction site and then installed, which enables flats to be build faster with less workers.

Mr Khaw also cautioned that while HDB was building ahead of demand to clear the backlog of married couples waiting for flats, this would not last forever. Addressing hot topics raised in the Our Singapore Conversation sessions on housing, Mr Khaw said that it would be hard to scrap the cash-over-valuation market mechanism, and that the executive condominium scheme was still under review.