3,664 BTO flats launched in Choa Chu Kang, Woodlands, Geylang and Tampines

[SINGAPORE] The Housing and Development Board (HDB) on Tuesday launched 3,664 Built-To-Order (BTO) flats for sale in four estates, in its first exercise of the year (2018).

This is the first tranche of some 17,000 BTO flats expected in 2018 and also the inaugural batch of units to be built with an open kitchen concept whenever possible.

There are five projects in the February 2018 BTO Exercise, with units ranging from 2-room Flexi to 5-room flats, HDB said in a statement.

Two of the projects are in the non-mature towns of Choa Chu Kang and Woodlands, while the other three are in the mature towns of Geylang and Tampines.

Prices range from S$71,000 for a 2-room Flexi flat in Woodlands to S$429,000 for a 4-room unit in Geylang.

Starting from this BTO exercise, HDB will cease to offer the kitchen partition wall under the Optional Component Scheme as the take-up rate has been low.

However, homebuyers will still have the option of installing their own partition when carrying out renovation works, HDB said.

Also on offer in this exercise are 717 flats that were not selected from the May 2017 Sale of Balance Flats (SBF) and Aug 2017 Re-offer of Balance Flats (ROF) exercises.

They comprise 50 units of 2-room Flexi, 217 units of 3-room, 109 units of 4-room, 331 units of 5-room, 3 units of 3Gen and 7 units of executive flats across various towns and estates.

About 80 per cent of these flats are completed and these are catered for eligible families with more urgent housing needs, who are less particular about location and other factors.

Prices range from S$149,000 for a 2-room Flexi unit to S$585,000 for an executive flat in a mature town.

The application for new flats launched in the February 2018 BTO and ROF exercise can be submitted online on the HDB InfoWEB from Tuesday to next monday (Feb 12).

Applicants can apply for a flat under either the BTO or ROF exercise, but not both.

The next BTO exercise will take place in May, with 3,900 BTO flats in Sengkang, Tampines, Toa Payoh and Yishun expected to be on sale.

THE STRAITS TIMES