The Housing Board (HDB) recorded a higher net deficit in the last financial year, amid the ramping up of a supply of new flats and programmes to upgrade heartland estates.

According to its latest annual report released on Wednesday, HDB had a higher net deficit of $797 million before a Government grant in the year ending March 2013, compared with $443 million the year before.

It received a $1.04 billion Government grant in the same financial year. The ramped up building program saw more HDB flats under construction last year. Some 72,737 flats were constructed last year, a 23.8 per cent increase from the 58,731 flats the year before. But fewer flats were completed: 11,541 flats were finished last year, or 35.7 per cent down from the 17,947 the year before.

HDB's chief executive officer, Dr Cheong Koon Hean, said in the report that "the challenge ahead is to ensure smooth completion and delivery of the new flats, given the large volume and resources involved".