HDB launches 9,012 BTO and balance flats, including Prime project in Redhill
In all, six BTO projects are on sale across Bukit Merah, Sembawang, Tampines and Toa Payoh
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[SINGAPORE] The Housing and Development Board (HDB) launched 4,692 Build-To-Order (BTO) flats for sale on Wednesday (Feb 4), including about 1,300 flats in Tampines and Sembawang with shorter waits of under three years.
In all, six BTO projects are on sale across Bukit Merah, Sembawang, Tampines and Toa Payoh.
Another 4,320 balance flats have also been put on offer. About one in five of these units are completed and ready for home buyers to move into.
The bulk of the balance flats – those from earlier BTO exercises – are Prime and Plus flats in Bukit Merah, Kallang/Whampoa and Queenstown, as well as Community Care Apartments.
The subsidy clawback rate for Prime BTO project Redhill Peaks in Bukit Merah has been set at 12 per cent. The rate is 6 per cent for two Plus projects – Kim Keat Crest in Toa Payoh and Tampines Nova.
Prime and Plus flats, which are closer to the city centre, transport nodes and amenities, come with stricter resale conditions, such as a 10-year minimum occupation period (MOP) and a subsidy clawback upon resale.
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The clawback means that when such flats are sold, owners will have to pay the Housing Board a percentage of the resale or valuation price, whichever is higher.
The remaining three projects – one in Tampines and two in Sembawang – fall under the Standard classification. These flats do not have a subsidy recovery clause when they are sold, and they come with a five-year MOP.
HDB said that about eight in 10 BTO flats on offer have waiting times of less than four years.
Prime project Redhill Peaks will have 1,052 units of two-room flexi, three and four-room flats in Jalan Bukit Merah and Redhill Close. Redhill MRT station is about five minutes away on foot.
Buyers will have to wait four years and seven months for these flats – the longest wait in this sales exercise.
Prices (without grants) range from S$215,000 to S$373,000 for a two-room flexi flat, S$385,000 to S$537,000 for a three-room unit, and S$563,000 to S$783,000 for a four-room flat.
For comparison, three-room resale flats in Bukit Merah recently transacted at between S$628,000 and S$828,000, and four-room resale flats at between S$915,000 and S$1.135 million, said HDB.
Tampines Nova, which is located in the heart of Tampines Central, falls under the Plus category. It will house 255 units of two-room flexi and four-room flats.
Bound by Tampines Avenue 5, Tampines Central 8 and Tampines Concourse, it is about a five-minute walk from Tampines MRT station and Our Tampines Hub.
The wait for a flat there is two years and eight months.
Prices (without grants) range from S$197,000 to S$292,000 for a two-room flexi unit, and S$459,000 to S$602,000 for a four-room flat.
The other project in the estate, Tampines Bliss, is a Standard project comprising 284 units of three- and four-room flats in Tampines Avenue 2 and Tampines Street 22. The wait for a flat there is one year and 11 months.
HDB had said this is one of the fastest flat completion times since shorter-waiting-time projects – those that are already being built when they are launched – were introduced in 2018.
The other project with a shorter waiting time, Sembawang Deck in the new Sembawang North housing area, comprises 777 units of two-room flexi, three, four and five-room flats. The Standard project comes with a wait of two years and nine months.
Prices (without grants) range from S$158,000 to S$237,000 for a two-room flexi flat, S$261,000 to S$343,000 for a three-room flat, S$338,000 to S$426,000 for a four-room flat, and S$479,000 to S$585,000 for a five-room flat.
In Toa Payoh, the Kim Keat Crest project will have 1,151 units of two-room flexi, three and four-room flats on a site in Kim Keat Avenue and Toa Payoh East.
The Plus project will have a waiting time of three years and one month.
HDB said applicants who wish to improve their chances of securing a flat are encouraged to apply for projects with lower application rates, such as a rate of one or below.
Applications will close at 11.59 pm on Feb 11 on the HDB Flat Portal.
In the next BTO exercise in June, HDB will offer about 6,900 flats in Ang Mo Kio, Bishan, Bukit Merah, Sembawang and Woodlands. THE STRAITS TIMES
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