High demand for 4-room flats in first BTO projects with prime area rules; units more than twice oversubscribed

SINGAPORE — Four-room flats at the first Build-To-Order (BTO) projects launched under new prime location rules are in high demand, with more than twice the number of applicants than units available. This was just a day after applications opened.

Response for three-room flats, however, remain muted with the units undersubscribed as of Thursday (Nov 18).

As of 12.30pm on Thursday, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) stated on its website that there were 1,591 applicants vying for 680 four-room flats for the two new BTO projects — River Peaks I and River Peaks II — located in the central area of Rochor.

These projects are the first ones under the Prime Location Public Housing model, which imposes stricter ownership criteria on homeowners so that flats in prime areas remain affordable and accessible to Singaporeans.

Flats under this model have a 10-year, instead of five-year, minimum occupation period.

Owners of these HDB flats will also not be allowed to put the whole flat up for rent after 10 years, even though flat owners are permitted to do so after five years under current rules.

Second-time applicants fuelled the demand for four-room units at the two new projects with more than 22 of them vying for each unit.

For first-timers, there were 1.3 applicants for each four-room unit.

For three-room flats, there were 153 applicants for 280 units, with most of the interest coming from second-time applicants.

Applications for the flats are open until next Tuesday.

OTHER BTO LAUNCHES

Besides the Rochor projects, seven other BTO projects were launched in non-mature estates Chua Chu Kang, Hougang, Jurong West and Tengah and mature estate Kallang Whampoa on Wednesday.

Most of these remain undersubscribed as of Thursday, with the exception of a development called Kent Heights at Kallang Whampoa.

Among the three to five-room flats available in Hougang, Jurong West and Tengah, only the five-room flats in Hougang were oversubscribed, with 356 applicants vying for 312 units.

For two-room flexi flats, those in Chua Chu Kang saw more than twice the number of applicants for 68 units. However, similar units in Tengah and Kallang Whampoa were undersubscribed.

Four-room flats in Kallang Whampoa saw more competition, with 304 applicants for 276 units.