17,000 BTO flats to be launched in 2018: Lawrence Wong

AROUND 17,000 Build-to-Order (BTO) flats will be launched in 2018, maintaining a level of flat supply similar to this year's, National Development Minister Lawrence Wong announced in a blog post on Thursday morning.

These new flats will be spread around mature and non-mature towns. These include the upcoming Tengah town, the first time that Housing Board flats will be launched there.

Sembawang, Yishun and Sengkang will also see flat launches in the second half of the year that feature a shorter wait time of 2½ years, compared with the typical three to four years.

There were 17,584 units launched this year. Around 25,000 BTO flats were launched annually between 2011 and 2013, before dipping to 22,500 in 2014, 15,000 in 2015 and 18,000 in 2016.

Said Mr Wong: "We will continue to calibrate our flat supply carefully, taking into account underlying demand and the stability of the HDB resale market."

THE STRAITS TIMES