In 2024, the Housing Development Board (HDB) will hold three build-to-order (BTO) housing exercises — one less than in previous years.
These exercises will take place in February, June, and October, where a total of 19,600 BTO flats will be up for grabs.
Additionally, the exercise in October will see the implementation of the new housing categories, namely Standard, Plus, and Prime.
The reduction in the number of exercises will bring about benefits such as shorter waiting times and a wider range of products for potential buyers to choose from, says HDB.
According to Channel NewsAsia (CNA), HDB announced this change on Monday (8 Jan).
This year would be the first time HDB holds only three BTO exercises instead of four.
The 2024 sale launches will happen in February, June, and October.
Of the 19,600 BTO flats, 4,100 will be offered in the February 2024 exercise, in the following areas:
On top of that, there will be 1,500 units available in February for the Sale of Balance Flats (SBF) exercise.
Notably, the exercise in October will see the implementation of the new housing categories of Standard, Plus, and Prime.
HDB explained that the reduced number of BTO exercises this year will allow potential home buyers the ability to choose from a wider range of flats and locations at each launch.
As such, applicants will be able to enjoy a higher chance of success in finding a flat that meets their budget and needs, said HDB.
This move will also reduce “reduce the extent of overlap between the selection exercises”, enabling greater certainty for applicants.
Currently, HDB aims for a Shorter Waiting Time (SWT) for 75% of the new BTO flats it is offering in this year’s sale launches.
This is up from 70% in 2023.
Buyers of these SWT flats will only have to wait no more than four years to move into their new BTOs.
To do so, HDB will continue to recalibrate its building programme to make sure that SWT flats make up the majority of the new launches.
In fact, roughly 14% of the new flats — about 2,800 flats — HDB will launch in 2024 will have a wait time of three years or less.
This is nearly four times more than the 732 SWT flats offered in 2023, said HDB.
The board added, “With this, HDB will achieve our target of launching around 2,000 to 3,000 SWT flats per year, one year ahead of schedule in 2024, instead of 2025.”
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Featured image adapted from gov.sg, for illustration purposes only.
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