Woman asks why unsold BTO flats offered as SBF but not to her, HDB says SBF exercise for all S’poreans
A woman who took to TikTok earlier this month to say that she had failed to get a Build-To-Order (BTO) flat after multiple applications has received a reply from HDB, explaining what happened.
In a Facebook post last Saturday (14 March), HDB said she had applied 11 times and “all her applications were for flats in popular locations”.
@xinandxuan The BTO game won in the end, just my two cents on the balloting process. #sghomes
BTO application unsuccessful due to queue position exceeding supply
In the video posted on 3 March, one of the Chua sisters who share the account said she applied for a BTO “13 times” and did not manage to get a unit.
Sharing screenshots of emails from HDB, she said they had been actively trying to get a unit for “some time”.
The result of one application as long ago as August 2021 — which wasn’t their first — said they were unsuccessful as their balloted queue position had “far exceeded the flat supply”.
Source: @xinandxuan on TikTok
Another application in February 2022 was unsuccessful for the same reason.
Source: @xinandxuan on TikTok
Woman says they were never asked to select a BTO unit
“You might be thinking ‘Oh because you keep balloting central and key locations everyone wants, it’s impossible’,” Ms Chua said.
But she claimed that the only response they received was “exceeded flat supply” but they were “never asked to go down to select a unit”.
“Then who exactly is being called up and who is getting these units we balloted for?” she queried.
Woman says she was not informed of BTO flats available
Ms Chua also shared an article from The Straits Times (ST) that reported “muted demand” for flats in some Plus and Prime projects.
Source: @xinandxuan on TikTok
Data from the article showed that the Bukit Merah Ridge project had “balance units” comprising 28% of the three-room flats and 16% of the four-room flats.
However, she pointed out that she balloted for a four-room flat in the Bukit Merah Ridge project in May 2022 and was given a queue number of 3,120 — more than the 1,226 units available.
Source: @xinandxuan on TikTok
She was also told that they would monitor the take-up and inform her if there were flats available, but did not inform her, she said.
She noted that the graphic showed “leftover units” but added that it did not make sense for over 200 units to be given up.
Woman makes appeal through MP
Ms Chua said she even made an appeal through her MP, Manpower Minister Tan See Leng.
Source: @xinandxuan on TikTok
However, she was told to wait for the ballot results at the end of August 2023, she claimed.
Source: @xinandxuan on TikTok
Notably, they were invited to book a flat in Decemeber 2023 for a BTO in Farrer Park Fields, she said.
Source: @xinandxuan on TikTok
But to her dismay, on the day of the appointment she was told that all four-room flats in Kallang-Whampoa allocated to Chinese applicants had been sold.
Source: @xinandxuan on TikTok
Woman buys resale flat instead
At this point, they had tried for about three years and it was getting “so pointless and tiring”, Ms Chua complained.
The situation was “going nowhere” as they were either not getting a queue number or the queue number “exceeded the allocated number of slots by more than double or triple”, she lamented.
She expressed her wish to stay in a brand-new BTO as it’s still “the best option”, but they eventually gave up and bought a resale flat instead.
She also hoped the process had been better communicated and that there were fairer chances for all.
She questioned why the leftover units in the BTO projects she applied for were later offered under the Sale of Balance Flats (SBF) exercise, instead of being offered to her when she had a queue number.
Though she was not expecting a unit just because of her multiple ballots, she felt it was “unfair” that the unit she wanted was never available, while reports revealed that there were leftover units.
Woman’s applications all for popular locations: HDB
In response to her video, HDB corrected Ms Chua, saying that she had in fact applied 11 times for a four-room flat.
This was through BTO and SBF exercises from November 2020 to May 2023, it added.
However, her first 10 applications were unsuccessful as they were all for flats in popular locations such as Kallang Whampoa and Bukit Merah.
In these projects, demand significantly exceeded supply, HDB noted.
Source: Steven HWG on Unsplash.
Woman invited to select flat on the 11th try
Ms Chua’s 11th application was in the May 2023 SBF exercise, and she was invited to select a flat, HDB said.
However, she decided not to do so and eventually bought a resale flat with CPF Housing Grants.
But in a follow-up TikTok post on the same day, she said she was asked to select a unit on 1 Feb 2024 — nine months after the May 2023 exercise.
She also shared a screenshot of the message sent on 29 Jan 2024.
Source: @xinandxuan on TikTok
By then, it was “too late”, she said, also sharing a screenshot of an Option To Purchase sent to her on 4 Jan 2024.
Source: @xinandxuan on TikTok
She did acknowledge, though, that they had applied 11 times, not 13 times as she had previously said.
SBF flats offered to give all S’poreans a chance
In its post, HDB also explained that flats are offered in SBF exercises if they are unsold, unselected or returned from previous BTO launches.
They became available only after all eligible applicants have selected their flats, subject to the ethnic quota limits.
Some of the flats selected earlier may subsequently be returned or cancelled by applicants due to changes in plans and circumstances, HDB said, adding:
Such flats are offered in an SBF exercise to give all Singaporeans, and not just the original applicants of the BTO launch, an opportunity to apply through a fair and transparent process.
It encouraged applicants with more urgent housing needs to consider applying for projects with lower application rates to improve their chances.
Also read: Opinion: ‘BTO ai mai?’ Romance is dead in practical S’pore
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Featured image adapted from @xinandxuan on TikTok and Steven HWG on Unsplash.
