SINGAPORE: About 19,600 Build-to-Order (BTO) flats will be launched in 2025, as part of the government’s efforts to boost public housing supply and meet rising demand.
Among them, 3,800 flats – or nearly 20 per cent – will have shorter waiting times of under three years, said Minister for National Development Desmond Lee in an interview with CNA Digital, the Straits Times and Lianhe Zaobao earlier this week.
In addition, the Housing Board plans to offer more than 5,500 units in February via its largest-ever Sale of Balance Flats exercise. This brings the total number of flats for sale this year to over 25,000.
The flats will include Standard, Plus and Prime flats – the three categories under a revised classification framework – in locations such as Kallang/Whampoa, Bukit Merah, Queenstown, Mount Pleasant, Woodlands, Yishun and Sembawang.
With this year’s offering, the government is on track to launch about 102,300 BTO flats between 2021 and 2025, exceeding its earlier commitment of 100,000 units over the five-year period, said Mr Lee.
“We have ramped up supply quite dramatically,” he told reporters.
He added that the government’s next target is to launch 130,000 new flats by 2027, which means another 30,000 flats can be expected to go on sale in the next two years.
TACKLING PANDEMIC-INDUCED CHALLENGES
This increased housing supply addresses challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, which disrupted construction, materials and labour, causing delays in BTO completions. At the same time, demand surged due to demographic shifts and pandemic-related factors, driving up resale prices after years of stagnation.
Almost five years on, Mr Lee said the government has resolved many of these issues, including clearing the backlog of delayed projects. The last batch of pandemic-delayed flats will be handed over to home owners within weeks, he said.
The ramp-up in supply has also lowered the average application rate for first-time buyers. Across all flat types, the rate fell to 2.1 in 2024 from 3.7 in 2019. For three-room and larger flats, the rate dropped to 2.2 from 4.0 in the same period.
