Authorities have said that the new HDB classification framework is done to ensure home ownership is made affordable to all income groups, maintain a good social mix in every town and region, as well as keep the system fair for everyone.
Mr Lee reiterated this on Wednesday, noting that HDB will provide additional subsidies to those buying Plus and Prime flats to ensure that these flats remain affordable to a wider group of Singaporeans.
But tighter restrictions will also be imposed for these two flat categories “to limit the lottery effect and to be fair to buyers who do not receive such additional subsidies”, he said.
These restrictions include a 10-year minimum occupation period, instead of the usual five years, as well as a subsidy clawback upon the resale of these flats. These flats will also be bound by stricter resale conditions.
“These restrictions are intended to reinforce the concept of owner-occupation in public housing. They seek to reduce the investment value of a BTO flat and thereby, limit speculative gains or what we call the lottery effect,” Mr Lee said.
“Ultimately, this will allow us to provide home owners with a wide range of options across flat types, and across the island, to find the one that suits their budget and their needs,” he added.
“CONSEQUENTIAL” CHANGES TO QUOTAS, SCHEME ALLOCATIONS
Alongside the roll-out of the new classification system, HDB said “consequential alignments” will be made to various areas, such as the flat allocation quotas and ballot chances for first-timer applicants, as well as the proportion of flat supply set aside under the various priority schemes.
“In general, parameters that previously applied to non-mature estate flats will now be applied to Standard flats, and parameters that previously only applied to PLH flats will now only apply to Prime flats,” HDB said.
For instance, at least 95 per cent of four-room and larger flats in mature and non-mature estates are currently set aside for first-timer families.
With the new classification, the same percentage of four-room and larger flats across the Standard, Plus and Prime projects will be set aside for first-timer families.
October’s BTO exercise will mark another first, by allowing singles to apply for two-room flexi flats in all locations across Singapore.
More than 1,900 such flats will be on offer in 10 out of the 15 BTO projects that will be launched, HDB said on Oct 4. These flats are located in Ang Mo Kio, Bedok, Bukit Batok, Jurong West, Kallang/Whampoa, Pasir Ris and Sengkang.
Authorities also announced over the weekend that the upcoming BTO exercise will include 2,085 new flats with shorter waiting times across three projects in Bukit Batok and Sengkang.
In particular, the flats in West BrickVille@Bukit Batok will be completed within two years, making it “one of the shortest wait time projects” it has launched, HDB said on Oct 6.
