3 upcoming BTO projects in mature estates, 2 in Queenstown
Three out of 10 Build-To-Order (BTO) projects to be launched in the November sales exercise will come under the prime location public housing (PLH) model.
Two – Ulu Pandan Banks and Ghim Moh Natura – are in the mature estate of Queenstown. The third is Kallang Horizon in Kallang Whampoa, also a mature estate.
The sales exercise will begin on Nov 23, with the Housing Board launching over 9,500 units, National Development Minister Desmond Lee said in a Facebook post on Thursday.
Flat owners of the three PLH projects will have to pay 6 per cent of the resale price or valuation, whichever is higher, to HDB when they sell their homes on the open market for the first time under a subsidy clawback clause.
Owners will also be subject to a 10-year minimum occupation period (MOP) before they can sell their flats on the open market. Standard BTO flats come with a five-year MOP and do not have a subsidy clawback clause.
A third project in Queenstown, Queensway Canopy, will not fall under the PLH model as it is located farther away from the main transport nodes and major retail amenities, Mr Lee said.
“These flats thus have lower market values than the PLH flats at Ulu Pandan Banks and Ghim Moh Natura,” he said, adding that Queensway Canopy residents will still have access to essential amenities such as supermarkets and food centres.
Mr Lee noted that the three PLH projects are located near transport nodes like Dover, Buona Vista and Kallang MRT stations, and are well served by existing amenities and facilities.
“Given the attractive locations and attributes, these flats would naturally command higher market values. To keep such PLH projects affordable and accessible, we apply an additional subsidy, on top of the substantial subsidies already provided for all BTO flats,” he said.
Ulu Pandan Banks sits on the eastern half of Dover Forest and is gazetted as car-lite, so there will be fewer parking spaces. This will free up space for public facilities.
This comes after plans to use the 33ha Dover Forest for public housing were revised last year following an outcry from nature groups. About 11ha in the eastern half will be developed for public housing, while the western half is set aside to preserve its biodiversity.
On Nov 23, BTO projects will also be launched in Bukit Batok, Tengah and Yishun.
The two projects in Tengah, comprising 2,070 units, will trial a beamless flat design that will give residents greater flexibility to configure the layout of their flats.
There is one project in Bukit Batok and three projects in Yishun.
In February 2023, HDB will launch about 2,900 to 3,900 units in estates such as Kallang Whampoa, Queenstown and Tengah.
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