960 Rochor BTO flats launched under prime area model

In an effort to reduce the "lottery effect" for those who get public housing units in prime areas, the Housing Board yesterday launched a new model, starting with 960 Build-To-Order (BTO) flats in Rochor, which come with a 6 per cent subsidy clawback clause upon their resale.

The highly anticipated project - River Peaks I and II - is the first to come under a new prime location public housing (PLH) model which imposes stricter buying and selling conditions.

The owners of these flats will pay 6 per cent of the resale price or valuation, whichever is higher, to HDB when they sell their home on the open market for the first time.

Owners will also be subject to a 10-year minimum occupation period - up from five years for other flats - before they can sell their flats on the open market.

The pool of resale buyers will also be limited to households which earn not more than $14,000 a month, with at least one Singaporean applicant.

These conditions are aimed at keeping new public housing in prime, central locations affordable and inclusive for Singaporeans, and reducing the "lottery effect" of such sought-after units, said HDB.

However, property analysts said it is still too early to tell if the stricter conditions will deter speculative buyers looking for a windfall gain.

The Rochor project sits on two plots of land along Weld Road and Kelantan Road, next to Jalan Besar MRT station.

The 960 flats are part of the 4,501 BTO flats that were launched for sale yesterday.

The units are spread across nine housing projects in six estates, with a median waiting time of 4.4 years for flats to be completed.

In addition, another 1,798 flats were on offer in this year's second, and final, Sale of Balance Flats scheme, in areas such as Bishan, Bukit Merah and Queenstown.

In total, 6,299 new flats were launched yesterday.

Prices for the Rochor BTO units start from $409,000, without grants, for a three-room flat and $582,000 for a four-room flat, making them the most expensive units in a mature estate in this launch.

The flats are spread across six 47-storey blocks. One of the blocks will include 40 two-room rental flats.

The prices are slightly higher than those in August's Queenstown BTO project, Queen's Arc, where the price of a three-room flat started from $382,000, and a four-room flat from $540,000.

The estimated floor area for the three-room Rochor units is 66 sq m each, and for the four-room units, it is 88 sq m each.

In Queen's Arc, three-room units have an approximate floor area of 69 sq m each, with four-room units at 93 sq m each.

The 6 per cent subsidy clawback for the Rochor BTO flats applies to only the first resale transaction, and not to subsequent resales.

HDB is clawing back the subsidy because it has to provide additional subsidies, on top of those provided for all BTO flats, in order to launch these prime area flats at affordable prices.

Owners who choose not to sell their flats will not get their subsidies clawed back.

Buyers, however, will have to wait around six years for these flats, as the project is estimated to be completed in the second quarter of 2028. This is because of the height of the projects and the fact that they are being built close to Jalan Besar MRT station, which makes them subject to more stringent requirements by the authorities.

This means owners will likely be able to resell these flats only some time in 2038.

HDB plans to launch at least one prime location housing project each year, although the proportion of flats will differ year on year to ensure a diverse supply across estates.