More BTOs with shorter wait times, support in buying resale flats among measures to help first-timers: Desmond Lee
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- The Government is studying measures to reduce the high rejection rate for BTO flat applications
- It will also aim to launch around 2,000 to 3,000 new shorter-wait flats every year by 2025
- The measures were announced by National Development Minister Desmond Lee in Parliament
- Waiting times for BTOs have been delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic over the last three years
- The Government will consider if more housing support can be given to first-timers buying a resale flat, Mr Lee said
BY
NAVENE ELANGOVAN
Published February 6, 2023Updated February 7, 2023
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SINGAPORE — More Build-to-Order (BTO) flats with shorter waiting times of less than three years will be launched from 2024 onwards, while more support could be given to those looking to buy their first homes, including from the resale market.
These shorter-wait flats are launched while they are being built. More than 8,000 of such new flats will be completed in the next two years.
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The Government also aims to launch around 2,000 to 3,000 of such flats every year by 2025, similar to pre-Covid levels.
"After that, over a period of time, we will recalibrate our building programme so that shorter-waiting-time flats form a larger proportion of our supply of new flats than today,” said National Development Minister Desmond Lee in Parliament on Monday (Feb 6).
"In this way, we reduce waiting times and better support the homeownership as well as marriage and parenthood aspirations of Singaporeans.”
Mr Lee announced these new measures during his Parliamentary motion on affordable and accessible public housing, and public housing policies on Monday.
His speech addressed concerns over a tight supply of public housing flats and rising resale prices in the last three years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Waiting times for BTOs increased to four to five years during the pandemic due to construction delays. Before the pandemic, flat applicants typically had to wait from two-and-a-half to four years for their new homes.
Since then, the Government has sought to reduce the waiting time for BTO projects. Currently, 94 projects under construction have a median waiting time of around 4.3 years.
Since 2018, Housing and Development Board (HDB) has been offering some BTO projects with shorter waiting times of around three years or less by bringing forward construction for some sites that are ready for development, HDB had previously told TODAY. This is despite the fact its pipeline of BTO flats with shorter waiting times had been affected by the pandemic.
Mr Lee had also told the media in December last year that HDB will increase the proportion of BTO flats with waiting times of under three years.
In November last year, HDB launched two projects in Tengah with waiting times of just over three years. They were the shortest waiting times among projects launched that month.
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In his speech on Monday, Mr Lee also addressed the issue of high BTO application rates by first-timer applicants, particularly for new flats in mature estates.
He noted that many young couples have not been successful in securing a BTO flat because they were trying hard to secure one in a mature estate.
The first-timer BTO applications in mature estates are about 1.6 times that of applications in non-mature estates last year.
The pandemic has also exacerbated application rates. The highest application rates in mature estates over the past six years have all been in the last three years of the pandemic, he said.
Mr Lee said that the Government is studying how it can provide even more support for first-timer applicants.
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It will also consider if more housing support can be given to first-timers buying a resale flat to help them own a home, Mr Lee said, adding that new measures will be announced when ready.
First-timer families may qualify for an Enhanced Housing Grant of up to S$80,000, if they meet the eligibility conditions. They may also receive a subsidy of up to S$50,000 if they are buying a resale flat.
The Government is also looking to reduce the high rejection rate for BTO applications so that new flats are prioritised for those with “genuine and urgent housing needs”.
HDB had said last June that over the last five years, about 40 per cent of applicants who are invited to book a BTO flat ended up declining the offer.
Currently, those who rejected a chance to book a new flat will have their chance of success in future applications reduced.
Those who reject two chances to book a flat will have their first-timer priority suspended for a one-year period.
But in improving its policies on housing, the Government must always ensure that they remain sustainable, Mr Lee said.
"It is easy to ask, why not make flats even cheaper?" he said.
"As a society, we have to debate and agree on how affordability should be fairly defined, because ultimately, we – the people of Singapore – are all collectively paying for it."
