HDB to raise BTO supply by 10% to 55,000 flats between 2025 and 2027: Chee Hong Tat
More than 25,000 private residential units to be launched through GLS within same period
[SINGAPORE] The Housing & Development Board (HDB) will launch about 55,000 Build-to-Order (BTO) flats between 2025 and 2027 across different parts of Singapore, including new areas such as Mount Pleasant, Woodlands North Coast, Sembawang North and the former Keppel Club.
This is 10 per cent more than the earlier number of 50,000 flats which HDB committed to launch, Minister for National Development Chee Hong Tat told the media in an interview on Tuesday (Aug 5).
“We will build more to have sufficient supply to meet the housing aspirations of Singaporeans. Having a strong BTO supply will also help to reduce demand in the resale market…and will help to moderate resale flat prices,” he said.
Although BTO flat supply was significantly ramped up in both 2022 and 2023, demand remained strong in 2024, the Ministry of National Development (MND) said in a written response to a question from The Business Times on the factors driving housing demand.
MND said: “This was driven by several factors: the policy change allowing singles to apply for two-room flexi flats islandwide from October 2024; the echo boomer generation (those born in the late 1980s to 1990s) entering the flat-buying age; and the shifts in lifestyle preferences resulting in smaller household sizes.
“To keep pace with demand and ensure public housing remains affordable and accessible, we are putting out a strong supply of new homes, including increasing the BTO supply by 10 per cent.”
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In response to a question on whether HDB is reviewing the income ceiling for BTO flats, Chee noted that salaries have risen over the years and some buyers would have exceeded the S$14,000 income ceiling. “We understand, and we do want to review the salary threshold at an appropriate time.”
He added: “We are looking at whether we can reduce the age for singles to be eligible, so that singles can come in and buy BTO flats at an earlier age.”
The extent to which adjustments can be made will depend on the supply the government can introduce in the next few years, Chee said.
“Because you can imagine if we lower the age limit for singles, or if we raise the income threshold, there will be more applicants who qualify – and therefore demand will go up,” said Chee. “So without a strong supply of BTO flats, we will not be able to meet this new demand.”
Private housing supply will also increase. More than 25,000 private residential units will be launched through the government land sales (GLS) programme between 2025 and 2027, said Chee.
More than 45,000 units are already in the pipeline. “So, in total, more than 70,000 new private housing units will be completed by around 2030,” he added.
If there is sufficient BTO supply for first-time buyers, some of them, instead of buying resale flats, will choose to buy BTO flats, Chee said.
Meanwhile, the number of BTO flats reaching their minimum occupation period will increase from 8,000 flats in 2025 to 13,500 flats in 2026, 15,000 flats in 2027 and 19,500 flats in 2028. This will increase the potential supply of resale flats in the market, Chee added.
“These two moves – one to increase the supply, the other to reduce the demand for resale flats – taken together, will help us to see stabilisation of resale flat prices in the years ahead.”
Moderation in price growth
He noted how there has been some moderation in price growth, with the quarter-on-quarter Resale Price Index growth for Q2 being the lowest since 2020. Resale prices for public housing flats rose 0.9 per cent in the second quarter of the year, slower than their 1.6 per cent increase in Q1.
When conditions allow, the government plans to remove the 15-month wait-out period for private property owners to buy non-subsidised HDB flats, Chee said.
He added: “Once the market prices stabilise in the resale market, I think it is timely for us to then consider removing this temporary cooling measure.”
Chee acknowledged that some concern remains over resale flat prices.
The number of “million-dollar flats” has been steadily growing, although they are a small fraction of overall sales. At the same time, median prices have started to cross the S$1 million threshold in certain segments. Q2 data from the HDB indicated that median prices of four-room flats crossed the million-dollar mark in the central area, Toa Payoh and Queenstown.
“Fundamentally, resale flat prices are set by the market supply and demand, at prices agreed between buyers and sellers. These flats remain attractive to buyers because they allow for immediate occupancy, and buyers can choose their preferred flat attributes, such as location and size. Hence, it is reasonable for resale flats in prime locations with desirable attributes to sell at higher prices.”
Many sellers are also owners of BTO flats looking to upgrade to an executive condominium or private residential property, the minister said.
“The key point is this: There are resale flats available at different price points.”
For instance, buyers looking for four-room resale flats with leases of 70 years or longer will be able to find resale flats in Tampines and Punggol priced around S$650,000 to S$700,000, Chee said.
He noted: “In Sembawang and Yishun, you can get such four-room flats below S$600,000. And in Jurong West and Woodlands, there are options below S$550,000.
“Resale prices can move up and down like any other product that responds to market conditions. What we want is for prices to move in tandem with income growth, so that over time, the two move together. So we don’t want it to outpace income growth. We also want to avoid too much volatility in the market.”
Social compact
Providing Singaporeans with affordable and accessible housing is a key part of the social compact, and the government will continue to monitor demand for homes closely and ensure that public housing remains accessible and affordable to Singaporeans, Chee said.
Beyond building more, the government will also build faster, he added. For 2025, the government will launch 4,500 Shorter Waiting Time (SWT) flats, exceeding its target of 3,800 by almost 20 per cent. SWT flats are those that have waiting times of less than three years.
This will benefit many buyers, especially those with more urgent housing needs, Chee said.
He added: “Over the next two years, HDB will launch about 4,000 SWT flats yearly, or one-third more than our previous annual supply commitment of 2,000 to 3,000 SWT flats.
“For a sense of scale, 4,000 SWT flats yearly, over two years, are in total almost as many flats as the entire Bidadari estate.”
Chee said: “We were able to achieve a shorter waiting time for these flats, not because the construction was rushed through, but because we started planning earlier – so that by the time people book those flats, some of the work has already started.
“This includes the infrastructure preparation works, technical studies such as design development, as well as contracting works for the project. So we start the preparation and some of the work earlier, so that by the time people book the flats, the waiting time will be shorter.”
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