The Housing and Development Board (HDB) will be offering 4,500 units across five towns in its May Build-To-Order (BTO) exercise. The five towns are Bukit Merah, Queenstown, Jurong West, Toa Payoh and Yishun, with the first two falling under the prime location public housing (PLH) model.
The PLH model was launched last year to keep public housing in prime locations affordable, accessible and inclusive for all Singaporeans. There will be some 1,660 units in Bukit Merah, while Queenstown will have around 860 units, with both projects comprising three-room and four-room flats.
In a Facebook post on Monday (23 May), National Development Minister Desmond Lee said that while the five towns remain the same as announced in February, one of the Bukit Merah projects originally planned for launch in May will be shifted to August, as more time was needed to review the project.
This was also to better spread out the location of the projects in mature and non-mature estates at each launch, Lee said, adding that HDB was on track to launch up to 23,000 new flats this year.
“There will also be a concurrent Sale of Balance Flats exercise, which will offer flats across various towns and estates island wide. These flats are already under construction; some have even been completed. So buyers can look forward to getting their flats earlier,” Lee said.
While a sizeable number of units in the May BTO launch will be in mature estates, Lee encouraged applicants to consider applying for BTO flats located in non-mature estates such as Jurong West and Yishun to maximise their chances of securing a flat. Application rates for non mature estates are generally lower than most mature estates.
Lee also said that there was “strong response” to the first two PLH projects launched.
The selection exercise for the first PLH project at River Peaks I and II in Rochor is under way, he added. About 80 per cent of buyers who have been invited for the selection exercise thus far have proceeded to book their flats, higher than the average of 60 per cent for most BTO projects, Lee said.
