HDB launches close to 7,000 BTO flats, half with waiting times of under 4 years

Buyers keen to move into their new flats early can consider those launched in the latest Built to Order (BTO) exercise.

This is because about half of the 6,938 flats launched on Wednesday (June 19) will offer waiting times of less than four years, with 1,352 flats in Tampines and Woodlands expected to be ready in around three years.

This is the second of the three BTO launches in 2024, with 19,600 new flats to be launched in total this year.

The 791-unit Marsiling Peak I project in Woodlands, for example, has a wait of only two years and 11 months, a first amongst launches in 2024. 

It comprises two-room flexi, three, four and five-room flats, and will be built along Admiralty Road and Marsiling Lane.

The project has three blocks that range from 31 to 35 storeys and is near Woodlands Checkpoint, with Woodlands and Woodlands North MRT stations about 2km away.

Prices start from $244k for Woodlands units

Similarly, the 561 flats at Tampines GreenTopaz will offer buyers a shorter waiting time of 3 years and one month, said the HDB.

Bounded by Tampines Avenue 1 and Tampines Street 92, the development comprises four blocks of 12 or 13 storeys with two-room flexi, four and five-room flats.

Additionally, one of the blocks will have 24 rental flats.

Prices start from $400,000 after grants for a four-room flat in Tampines – a mature estate – and $244,000 for the same in Woodlands, a non-mature estate.

The eight BTO projects offered in the June exercise are in Jurong East, Kallang/Whampoa, Queenstown, Tampines, Woodlands, and Yishun, with the Yishun project located in the new Chencharu housing estate.

More financial support for buyers

Starting from June's sales exercise, young couples eligible to defer their income assessment for the Enhanced CPF Housing Grant (EHG) and HDB housing loan will only need to pay an initial downpayment of 2.5 per cent of the flat price when they sign the Agreement for Lease, as announced by Minister for National Development, Desmond Lee, in March 2024.

This is lower than the initial downpayment amount, which was five or 10 per cent of the flat price.

Eligible first-timer families can also benefit from grants of up to $80,000 under the EHG, paying as little as $132,000 for a three-room flat in Woodlands.

They can also service their monthly mortgage payments using their CPF contributions, with little or no cash outlay.

Additionally, in this exercise, Tanjong Rhu Riverfront I and II and Holland Vista (offered under the Prime Location Public Housing (PLH) model) will be priced with additional subsidies on top of the market discounts applied across all BTO flats in order to maintain affordability.

However, to maintain parity with other BTO flat owners who are not accorded these additional subsidies, owners of PLH flats will have to return nine per cent of the resale price or valuation – whichever is higher – to the HDB upon selling the flats.

Flat applications can be made online via HDB Flat Portal from today (June 19) to June 26, 2024. 

ALSO READ: First BTO project in Chencharu, Yishun's new estate, to be launched in June; flats will have smart and green features

bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com