Attractive prices, inclusive policies behind surge in demand from singles for 2-room flexi HDB flats

SINGAPORE – Among the hopeful applicants in the just concluded October Build-To-Order (BTO) sales exercise is Mr Liu Dawei, who applied for a two-room flexi flat in Sengkang.

Mr Liu, who is single, had initially set his sights on a Housing Board flat in Bedok, but when he saw that there were over 19 single applicants vying for each of the available two-room flexi flats there, he decided to go for a unit in Sengkang instead.

Even so, the 36-year-old’s chances are only slightly better in Sengkang – its singles’ application rate, the number of single applicants per flat, is 13.4 for two-room units.

“I’m still not very hopeful and will probably need to manage my expectations. The response from singles is overwhelming,” said Mr Liu, a senior human resources executive. This is the second time he is making a bid for a two-room flat. He previously applied under the Sale of Balance Flats scheme in Sengkang in February but was unsuccessful.

Single applicants like Mr Liu were behind the surge in demand in the just-concluded

BTO sales exercise,

which attracted 35,678 applications overall for 8,573 flats.

But it was the 1,902 two-room flexi flats

that drew overwhelming demand

– with a median application rate of 26.3 for singles across the seven towns where these flats were put up for sale.

As for what is driving demand, property analysts said it could be the attractive prices of BTO flats and the fact that this exercise was the first time that single home buyers could apply for two-room flexi flats across all locations. Before this, eligible singles could apply for such flats only in non-mature estates.

Ms Christine Sun, chief researcher and strategist at property firm OrangeTee Group, said prices of BTO flats are much lower compared with resale HDB flats and private homes.

For instance, prices of two-room flexi flats in Towner Breeze in Kallang/Whampoa range from $216,000 to $328,000, excluding grants. Such flats in this project, which are 39 to 48 sq m in size, come with

a 10-year minimum occupation period and a subsidy clawback of 8 per cent.

In the private resale market, one-bedroom condominium units of up to 55 sq m in Kallang were sold for around $1 million in the third quarter of 2024, Ms Sun said.

Two-room flexi flats cater to applicants who wish to own a home, but are unable to afford a condominium or larger resale flat, said analysts.

Application rates from the BTO exercise show that this is a sizeable category of home buyers, many of whom are singles or seniors.

Ms Wong Siew Ying, head of research and content at PropNex, pointed out that there were more than 10,800 applicants for the 1,902 two-room flexi flats.

“This is likely the highest number of applicants since the two-room flexi scheme was launched in November 2015,” she said.

The flexi scheme allows buyers aged 55 and older to choose either a 99-year lease or a shorter one of 15 to 45 years. It replaces the two-room flat scheme, which offered those flats on a 99-year lease to families and singles, and the studio apartment scheme, where flats with 30-year leases were sold to seniors.

Ms Wong said she expects the Government to continue to cater to demand from singles and seniors by setting aside a substantial proportion of flats in future BTO launches as two-room flexi flats.

In 2024, HDB launched 5,389 two-room flexi flats, the most since 2015, when the two-room flexi scheme was launched, checks by ST showed. It is also nearly double the number of such flats launched in 2023.

The Government has said it will continue to increase the supply of two-room flexi flats over the next two years, and expects demand to stabilise as this happens.

Professor Sing Tien Foo, provost’s chair professor of real estate at NUS Business School, said that during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Government was focused on solving the housing needs of families, especially first-timer households, which could explain the smaller allocation of two-room flexi flats for singles during that time.

Post-pandemic, the Government has turned its attention back to singles, said Prof Sing.

At the National Day Rally in August, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said the Government would study how it can better cater to the housing needs of singles. He pointed to

plans to introduce from mid-2025 priority access for singles applying for BTO flats

if they buy a home near or with their parents.

Ms Wong said the introduction of more inclusive policies could result in more demand for two-room flexi flats in the future.

As for whether the ramped-up supply will meet the strong demand for such flats, Ms Sun said that singles may turn to the HDB resale or private market if prices moderate, so increasing the supply “may not be so pressing”.

“However, if prices of resale flats and the private market remain elevated, there could be insufficient supply in the short term,” she said.