HDB launches 10,209 BTO and balance flats, as priority scheme for singles kicks in

SINGAPORE – The Housing Board launched 5,547 Build-To-Order (BTO) flats on July 23 for sale across eight projects in Bukit Merah, Bukit Panjang, Clementi, Sembawang, Tampines, Toa Payoh and Woodlands, including the first units in the new estate of Sembawang North.

Another 4,662 balance flats have also been put on offer, including 1,733 Sale of Balance Flats units that are completed and ready for home buyers to move into. The bulk of the balance flats are in Kallang/Whampoa, Tengah and Geylang.

A slew of policy changes that benefit singles and families looking to upgrade or right-size their homes will also take effect from this sales exercise.

HDB said it would increase the subsidies for four Prime projects in Bukit Merah, Toa Payoh and Clementi to keep the flats affordable for more Singaporeans. It did not specify the extent of this increase.

Upon resale, owners of these flats will be subject to a higher subsidy clawback, which is set at 11 per cent for Toa Payoh Ascent, and Alexandra Peaks and Alexandra Vista in Bukit Merah. At Clementi Emerald, it is 12 per cent.

These clawbacks correspond to the extent of the extra subsidies offered, said HDB. There is also a 10-year minimum occupation period (MOP) for these flats.

The clawback for Prime flats was 9 per cent in the past two sales exercises.

The remaining four projects fall under the Standard classification – these flats do not have a subsidy recovery clause when they are sold, and come with a five-year MOP.

HDB said that seven out of 10 BTO flats in this exercise have waiting times of four years or less.

Sembawang Beacon,

the first project in the new Sembawang North neighbourhood,

comprises 775 two-room flexi and three-, four- and five-room flats, as well as three-generation units, on a site bounded by Admiralty Link, Admiralty Lane and Canberra Road.

The project, which has a waiting time of three years, will be near amenities such as a neighbourhood park and Sembawang MRT station.

At Sembawang Beacon, prices (without grants) range from $148,000 to $207,000 for a two-room flexi flat, $267,000 to $323,000 for a three-room flat, $328,000 to $413,000 for a four-room flat, $487,000 to $586,000 for a five-room flat, and $497,000 to $585,000 for a three-generation unit.

A Standard project in Simei – which HDB classifies as part of Tampines – will have 380 units of two-room flexi, four- and five-room flats on a plot bounded by Simei Road and Upper Changi Road East. They are the first public housing flats in Simei in more than a decade. Buyers will have to wait 3½ years for these flats.

Toa Payoh Ascent, a Prime project, will house 741 two-room flexi, three- and four-room flats on a site bounded by Toa Payoh Rise and Braddell Rise. It is about a five-minute walk from Caldecott MRT station. The wait for a flat is three years and five months.

Prices (without grants) range from $212,000 to $354,000 for a two-room flexi flat, $406,000 to $514,000 for a three-room unit, and $583,000 to $777,000 for a four-room flat.

For comparison, three-room resale flats in Toa Payoh recently transacted at between $780,000 and $830,000, and four-room resale flats at between $1.07 million and $1.17 million, said HDB.

Two projects – Bangkit Breeze in Bukit Panjang and Clementi Emerald – will have shorter waiting times of less than three years.

Bangkit Breeze, a 643-unit Standard project in Bukit Panjang Ring Road, has a waiting time of two years and 11 months. Clementi Emerald, a Prime project in Clementi Avenue 9 with 753 units, has a wait of two years and 10 months.

Analysts said the higher subsidies for Prime flats could be attributed to rising resale prices. They do not expect the increase in subsidy clawback rates to deter buyers.

ERA Singapore key executive officer Eugene Lim noted that the subsidy recovery rates of between 11 per cent and 12 per cent are much higher than the 6 per cent under the Prime Location Public Housing model – the first iteration of the Prime flats – which was introduced in 2022. But he said the move would encourage long-term occupancy, especially given the higher subsidies offered.

Ms Christine Sun, chief researcher and strategist at Realion Group, said the increased clawback rates may not dissuade buyers as they “might be considered modest when compared with the profit they stand to make”.

She added that the Prime projects in Toa Payoh and Clementi, despite being farther from the Central Business District and downtown core, could be classified as such due to being near new regional hubs.

For instance,

Bishan town centre will be turned into a sub-regional centre

with more office spaces that will match the scale of Paya Lebar Central, while Clementi is located near one-north business park, she noted.

From July’s BTO exercise, the new Family Care Scheme comes into effect. Under the scheme, first-timer singles will be granted priority access within the existing quota for single buyers when they buy a two-room flexi flat near or with their parents.

A second component of the scheme, which grants singles priority if they jointly apply for two units in the same BTO project with their parents, will kick in from the October sales exercise.

There will be no change to the existing priority access for married couples and seniors – up to 30 per cent of flat supply in a BTO launch is allocated to first-timer families, while at least 40 per cent of two-room flexi flats are set aside for seniors.

Another change that takes place from this sales exercise is a larger allocation quota for second-time home buyers applying for three-room and larger flats.

Up to 20 per cent of three-room Standard flats and up to 10 per cent of three-room Plus and Prime flats and four-room and larger flats will be set aside for second-timer families.

First-timer families would still have at least 80 per cent to 90 per cent of three-room and larger flats set aside for them.

The rules for deferred income assessment have also been relaxed from this sales exercise, allowing couples the option to delay their income assessment for a housing loan until just before they collect the keys to their flat, as long as one party is a full-time student or national serviceman.

Previously, both parties needed to meet this requirement.

Lastly, the

Fresh Start Housing Grant

has been increased from $50,000 to $75,000 for eligible families who are second-time home buyers currently living in public rental flats. The grant will help them to buy a new two-room flexi or three-room standard BTO or balance flat on a shorter lease.

HDB said applicants who wish to improve their chances of securing a flat are encouraged to apply for Standard flats, where at least 90 per cent of the four-room and larger flats are set aside for first-timer families.

Applications will close at 11.59pm on July 30 on the HDB Flat Portal.

In the next BTO exercise in October, HDB will offer about 9,100 flats in Ang Mo Kio, Bedok, Bishan, Bukit Merah, Jurong East, Sengkang, Toa Payoh and Yishun. An assisted-living project in Sengkang, which will be the fifth of its kind in Singapore, will also be on offer.