HDB launches 3,995 new flats under February's BTO exercise

THE Housing and Development Board (HDB) said on Wednesday that it has rolled out 3,995 new flats for sale under its build-to-order (BTO) exercise for February - the first batch of 16,900 BTO flats that the HDB has planned for this year.

These flats are spread across five projects located in the non-mature towns of Bukit Batok and Hougang, and the mature town of Geylang. They comprise studio apartments and two-room to five-room flats, as well as three-generation (3Gen) flats.

To better help flat buyers plan their finances and flat purchase, from this sales exercise onwards, flat applicants who intend to take out an HDB housing loan will need to produce a valid HDB loan eligibility (HLE) letter at the point of booking a flat.

Previously, they only needed to produce the HLE letter when they signed the agreement for lease four months after booking a flat.

First-timers will continue to enjoy priority flat allocation, with at least 85 per cent (for four-room and five-room flats) and 70 per cent (for two-room and three-room flats) of the BTO public flat supply set aside for them.

Eligible first-time singles have the option of applying for a two-room flat in West Edge @ Bukit Batok, Buangkok ParkVista and Buangkok Tropica.

Married/courting couples who wish to live together with their parents can apply for a 3Gen flat at West Rock @ Bukit Batok, where 3Gen flats are offered for the first time. Other multi-generation families who wish to live near each other in the same BTO project can also apply for flats in West Edge @ Bukit Batok, MacPherson Spring, Buangkok ParkVista or Buangkok Tropica under the Multi-Generation Priority Scheme (MGPS).

The closing date of application for new flats launched in the February BTO exercise is Feb 17.