High number of applicants, so ballot results for Aug BTO exercise delayed

Those who have applied for a flat in the Housing Board's August Build-To-Order (BTO) sales exercise will be informed of their ballot result only around mid-October, instead of September.

The delay is due to a large number of applicants for the August launch, said HDB in response to queries from The Straits Times.

HDB said it needs more time to verify all applicants' eligibility for a flat and for the various priority schemes, as well as to conduct the computer balloting.

More than 34,000 people applied in the August BTO sales launch, compared with around 23,000 applicants in the May BTO launch.

BTO ballot results are typically released via e-mail about three weeks after applications close.

The August BTO exercise closed at 11.59pm on Sept 5.

Applicants were informed of the delay via e-mail on Friday, the same day fresh cooling measures were introduced to ensure flat buyers borrow prudently and moderate demand for HDB resale flats, prompting speculation online as to whether the delay was related to the latest round of cooling measures.

There was also confusion online about whether successful BTO applicants would be subject to the measures.

In response, HDB said the new measures do not apply to those who applied for a flat in the August BTO sales exercise.

Successful applicants who wish to take out an HDB housing loan will continue to have their loan amount computed based on the prevailing HDB housing loan interest rate pegged at 0.1 percentage point above the prevailing CPF Ordinary Account interest rate, which is 2.6 per cent per annum from Oct 1 to Dec 31.

The loan amount that successful applicants can take will remain at up to 85 per cent of the BTO flat price.

When asked if the balloting timeline would be adjusted for future BTO launches, HDB said that it is reviewing whether further adjustments are needed where a bigger flat supply is offered.