With an aim to provide young couples with housing in as short a time as possible, National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan announced that more build-to-order (BTO) HDB flats would be built in mature estates next year.
(New flats in mature estates are highly sought after.)
Khaw let on that this policy went against his ministry’s concerns that the introduction of new BTO flats will push already-high prices of units in these mature estates even higher. New flats in mature estates have proven to be extremely popular because of their well-developed amenities and accessible transport connections.
Queenstown’s SkyVille@Dawson and SkyTerrace@Dawson, for example, received more than 10,000 subscriptions for its 1,718 units two years ago. Similarly, the 400 flats of Telok Blangah Towers were oversubscribed by almost 20 times in 2007. Couple the high demand with limited space available in these already established areas and it is not surprising why units in mature areas fetch such high prices.
Khaw explained his decision on his blog, saying, “We should not be daunted by such a prospect, but should instead try to meet the aspirations of many young couples wanting to set up nests near their parents. Our response should be to put up more sites in mature estates, even as we ramp up BTO launches elsewhere.”
And while he acknowledged young couples’ desire to settle somewhere near their parents, a trend supported by the Government under the Married Child Priority Scheme, Khaw urged them to increase their chances of success by opting for non-mature estates, which are substantially less popular among home seekers.
This announcement was the latest of a series of moves made to tackle housing issues affecting Singaporeans. Khaw recently announced the speeding up of construction of new flats, the increment of the number of BTO units from 22,000 to 25,000 as well as the building of more rental flats for lower-income families.
Currently under way is a BTO launch of 4,000 units in four towns, the most popular area being the mature estate of Tampines, whose BTO launch is the first in recent years.
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