SINGAPORE — For the first time since 2015, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) will hold three instead of four Build-to-Order (BTO) sales exercises in a year.

A total of 19,600 new public housing flats will be launched in three batches in 2024 - February, June and October.

“With three BTO launches instead of four, home buyers can look forward to a bigger housing supply at each launch. This will enable them to select from a wider range of flats and locations,” said HDB on Monday (Jan 8).

In 2023, HDB launched 22,800 BTO flats across four sales exercises, an average of 5,700 flats per exercise. This year's average - across three exercises - is set to be higher at 6,533.

Applicants at every BTO launch “will now be able to enjoy a higher chance of success in finding a flat that meets their budget and needs”, said HDB. “In addition, this will reduce the extent of overlap between the selection exercises and provide greater certainty for home buyers.”

Buyers currently apply for a flat via BTO sales exercises, Sale of Balance Flats (SBF) exercises and open booking of flats, according to their needs and preferences. The vast majority of flat buyers purchase flats under BTO exercises.

About 4,100 BTO flats will be offered in the February 2024 BTO exercise. These flats will be in Bedok, Queenstown, Choa Chu Kang, Hougang, Punggol and Woodlands. Around 1,500 SBF units will also be available in February.

The reduction in the number of BTO launches this year comes as application rates for first-timer buyers for all flat types continue to moderate.

In 2023, the median number of applicants for each available unit was 1.9, a big drop from the 3.7 in 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic. 

"On the whole, BTO application rates for 2023 was lower than recent years," said HDB.

The October 2024 sales exercise will also see the implementation of the new classification and the launch of flats under the Standard, Plus and Prime categories, said HDB.

Announced during Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s National Day Rally in August 2023, the new categorisation will replace the current categorisation of housing estates as mature or non-mature. Instead, flats launched will be classified under the Standard, Plus or Prime categories, depending on their location and other attributes.

The reclassification is not retrospective and will not apply to existing flats or those already launched.

“HDB remains committed to provide affordable and accessible housing options to buyers, and will continue to monitor the response and refine our sales processes where necessary,” it said on Monday.

SHORTER WAITING TIMES FOR NEW FLATS

In 2023, almost 70 per cent of the flats had waiting times of four years or less. This is back to pre-covid pandemic levels where the majority of BTO projects had waiting times of three to four years, and down from the pandemic peak of four to five years, HDB said.

HDB said it would work towards having 75 per cent of the new flats slated for launch in 2024 to have waiting times of four years or less.

To that end, HDB will continue to recalibrate its building programme so that Shorter Waiting Time (SWT) flats form a larger proportion of the supply of new flats.

More than 2,800 flats, or about 14 per cent, of the new flats slated for launch in 2024 will be SWT flats with a waiting time of less than three years.

“This is close to four times compared to the 732 SWT flats offered in 2023,” said HDB. “With this, HDB will achieve our target of launching around 2,000 to 3,000 SWT flats per year, one year ahead of schedule in 2024, instead of 2025.”

80 PER CENT OF DELAYED PROJECTS COMPLETED BY 2023

Last year marked the highest number of flats and projects completed annually in the last six years, with HDB completing about 21,400 flats across some 23 housing projects.

“With these completions, HDB has continued to catch up on construction delays and successfully delivered about 80 per cent of the pandemic-delayed projects, or a total of 73 projects from October 2020 to December 2023,” it said.

HDB said that the remaining 19 Covid-delayed projects remain under construction, and that HDB is working closely with agencies and industry partners to deliver these housing projects to home buyers as soon as possible.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, HDB aims to complete all Covid-delayed projects by early 2025. CNA