10,000 new homes planned in Yishun; Gillman Barracks being studied for residential use

A HUGE new housing estate offering around 10,000 homes is being planned in the Chencharu area in Yishun, with the first public housing project there to be launched in June 2024.

And art enclave Gillman Barracks may be turned into a residential neighbourhood after 2030 with both public and private housing, a move expected to draw robust demand for new homes in the central locale.

At least 80 per cent of homes in Chencharu will be set aside for public housing, said Minister for National Development Desmond Lee on Tuesday (Mar 5), speaking during his ministry’s Committee of Supply debate. 

The first Build-To-Order (BTO) project in the Chencharu area will be launched in June 2024. The 1,270-unit project will include two-room flexi, three, four, and five-room flats, and will be located along Sembawang Road. 

The BTO project is a stone’s throw from the former Orto leisure park, which has relocated to 27 West Coast Highway near Haw Par Villa.

The last time a BTO project in Yishun was launched was in November 2022, said Nicholas Mak, Mogul.sg chief research officer. Response was “lukewarm”, with 4,453 applicants vying for 2,994 units across the three projects in Yishun released for sale. 

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The upcoming project at Chencharu could enjoy a better response due to its proximity to Khatib MRT Station, Mak said.

In the longer term, the government is studying the possibility of introducing a new residential neighbourhood at Gillman Barracks, to house both public flats and private property.

Gillman Barracks has a storied history and is home to former colonial military buildings, Lee said. “Besides providing more opportunities for Singaporeans to live closer to the city centre, the new residential neighbourhood can build on the character and charm of the former colonial buildings.

“Residents will also have easy access to green and recreational spaces, such as the Southern Ridges and Labrador Nature Park Network,” the minister added.

Gillman Barracks is predominantly zoned “Reserve Site” under the Master Plan 2019, and is currently occupied by offices, food and beverage outlets, lifestyle spaces and art galleries. Their tenancies will progressively expire by 2030.

Environmental and heritage studies will start in the second quarter of 2024, and are estimated to complete around the first half of 2026.

Ismail Gafoor, PropNex’s chief executive officer, said demand for both private and public housing will likely be robust if Gillman Barracks is developed for housing.

The last BTO sales exercise in the Telok Blangah area was in May 2021 at Telok Blangah Beacon, where 175 units drew 4,078 applications, at an application rate of 23.3, he said. 

The median price of condominium units transacted in the vicinity of Gillman Barracks in Q4 2023 ranged from S$1,576 psf to S$2,191 psf, said Christine Sun, OrangeTee Group’s chief researcher and strategist.  

New homes are planned for central parts of Singapore, such as Pearl’s Hill, Mount Pleasant, Turf City and the former Keppel Golf course. The government is also freeing up land for redevelopment, such as through the relocation of Paya Lebar Air Base, Lee said. 

As at February this year, the government has launched more than 67,000 HDB flats, two-thirds of its commitment to launch 100,000 new flats by 2025. 

Private housing supply has also been ramped up. Some 9,250 units were launched under the Government Land Sales (GLS) programme in 2023, the highest annual supply in the last 10 years, said Lee. The H1 2024 confirmed list will supply another 5,450 private homes.

Lee noted that markets have moderated, with HDB and private residential prices rising more slowly in 2023, while rents have also stabilised. The quarterly increase in public housing rents moderated to 0.4 per cent in Q4 2023, down from 1.9 per cent in Q3, while private housing rents fell by 2.1 per cent quarter on quarter in the last three months of 2023 – the first quarterly decline in over three years.

BTO application rates have come down from a high of 5.8 applications per flat in 2020, to 2.9 applications per flat last year. In the private housing market, transaction volume in 2023 fell by 13 per cent from 2022, and was at its lowest since 2016.

Alongside plans to provide more housing supply, the government will “activate and curate networks of recreational spaces across the island incorporating sports, arts, nature, heritage and wellness”, Second Minister for National Development Indranee Rajah said. Cycling and pedestrian paths as well as park connectors will connect recreational spaces.

Responding to a question posed by MP Nadia Ahmad Samdin (Ang Mo Kio GRC) on the impact of the upcoming Long Island project on marine life, Indranee said that environmental studies will consider surrounding marine habitats such as intertidal flats and coral communities.

The government plans to reclaim about 800 hectares of land off East Coast to create Long Island. Agencies will explore nature-based solutions to minimise the environmental impact of the reclamation, Indranee said.