HDB launches over 6,000 BTO flats, including 2 prime location projects in Bukit Merah and Queenstown

SINGAPORE — The Housing Board on Dec 5 launched 6,057 Build-To-Order (BTO) flats for sale across eight projects in Bedok, Bishan, Bukit Merah, Bukit Panjang, Jurong West, Queenstown and Woodlands.

It also announced that it would increase the subsidies given to buyers of two projects, in Bukit Merah and Queenstown, that fall under the prime location public housing (PLH) model at this launch. These extra subsidies, which it did not elaborate on, are in response to rising prices in the resale market, HDB said in a statement.

For fairness, owners of these flats will be subject to a higher subsidy clawback upon the resale of their flats, set at eight per cent of the resale price or valuation, whichever is higher. This is up from 6 per cent for past PLH projects.

The minimum occupation period for these projects will remain at 10 years.

The PLH projects are Alexandra Peaks in Bukit Merah, on the site of the former Alexandra Post Office, and Ulu Pandan Vista in Queenstown, the third and final project in the eastern half of Dover Forest in Ulu Pandan.

HDB added that 20 per cent of the PLH flats will be set aside for first-timer families, while two per cent will be put aside for second-timer families under the married child priority scheme, which allows a married child and his or her parents to live with or close to one another for mutual support.

Four projects at this launch, or about half of the flats on offer, will have a wait of four years or less across mature and non-mature estates, HDB said.

For instance, Sin Ming Residences in Bishan, which offers 732 three- and four-room flats, will have a wait of about two years and eight months.

The Alexandra Peaks PLH project in Bukit Merah has 904 two-room flexi, three- and four-room flats, on a site bounded by Alexandra Road and Alexandra Canal. It is fairly close to Redhill MRT station.

Prices range from $380,000 to $512,000 (without grants) for a three-room unit, and from $533,000 to $723,000 for a four-room flat.

The second PLH project in this exercise, Ulu Pandan Vista in Queenstown, will have 890 three- and four-room flats, and is next to Dover MRT station.

Three-room units are priced from $430,000 to $541,000 (without grants), and four-room flats from $598,000 to $763,000, making these flats the priciest at this launch.

Buyers will also have to wait the longest for the PLH flats, as both projects will take about four years and 11 months to be completed.

Applications close at 11.59pm on Dec 11 on the HDB flat portal. Flats will be allocated through balloting.

December's exercise will take the number of BTO flats launched in 2023 to 22,780.

In February 2024, HDB will offer about 4,100 flats in Bedok, Queenstown, Choa Chu Kang, Hougang, Punggol and Woodlands.

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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.