• Number of new BTO projects in older residential estates went up from nine in 2017 to 13 in 2020
• The proportion of BTO projects in these areas increased from 44 per cent to 55 per cent over the same period
• This is because of the strong demand for housing in these areas

SINGAPORE 一 The number of new public housing projects in mature estates increased by almost 50 per cent, from nine in 2017 to 13 in 2020.

The proportion of these new flats 一 known as Build-to-Order (BTO) 一 in mature towns increased from 44 per cent to 55 per cent over the same period, the Housing and Development Board said on Sunday (July 25).

This is because of the strong demand for housing in older residential areas of Singapore, which include estates such as Queenstown, Clementi, Bukit Merah, Bishan, Ang Mo Kio, Toa Payoh and Tampines.

The housing agency added that it “will continue to monitor the market situation closely and calibrate the supply of public housing accordingly, to ensure that the flat supply remains responsive to the housing needs of the population”.

Posting on his Facebook page on the same day, National Development Minister Desmond Lee said that HDB has offered almost 25,600 flats in these areas in the last four years.

He said that he had received messages from young couples asking for help to apply for a BTO flat in mature estates in recent years, as they wish to start their own families in a new home but still live closer to their parents who have a house in these older towns.

“While we have set aside most of the new flat supply for such first-timer families, demand for new flats in mature estates remains high,” he said.

About 17,000 BTO flats are expected to be launched for this year to meet home buyers’ needs.

This is more than the 14,600 new flats launched in 2019 and 16,800 in 2020.

Given that application rates for BTO flats in older estates are higher, HDB encouraged flat buyers to consider non-mature towns for a better chance of securing a home.

Between 2017 and 2020, the application rates for BTO projects in mature estates increased from 2.8 times in 2017 to 6.7 times in 2020. For non-mature estates, the application rates rose from 2.1 to 4.8 over the same time period.

Overall, demand for new HDB flats rose, with applications received for each BTO flat increasing from 2.3 in 2017 to 5.8 in 2020.

The same trend is also seen in the Sale of Balance Flats exercises, which mainly offer flats not sold in previous BTO projects, between 2017 and 2020.

The average application rate under this scheme is at 5.4 times for flats in mature estates and 4.8 times for non-mature estates.

WHAT DRIVES THE DEMAND

Driving this housing demand is the increase in the number of marriages over the last decade. There were 880,800 married couples in 2010 compared to 977,300 in 2020.

HDB said it expects higher demand for housing in the near term due to a larger cohort of “echo” boomers, referring to those born in the late 1980s to 1990s, reaching marriageable age.

Another factor is the growing trend of smaller households, as young couples and singles prefer to live separately from their parents, but still close by.

An HDB survey in 2018 found that the proportion of married couples 54 years old and below who chose to live near their parents grew from 21 per cent in 2013 to 24.3 per cent in 2018.

Similarly, the proportion of older residents aged 55 and above living near their married children rose from 21.4 per cent to 22.9 per cent over the same period.

This trend is also reflected in the higher take-up rate of the Proximity Housing Grant, which provides families buying a resale flat a grant of up to S$30,000 if they choose to live near other members of their family.

HDB said the proportion of resale transactions with this grant increased by about 21 per cent, across both mature and non-mature estates, between 2017 and 2020.

“While the majority of past BTO supply have traditionally come from the non-mature estates, there is a continued need to provide for more new flats in mature estates as well, so that the children of HDB residents living in mature estates can also have the opportunity to live close to their parents/parents-in-law for better family support,” HDB said.