May 2022 BTO exercise to include two projects in prime locations

In a Facebook post on May 23, Minister for National Development Desmond Lee shared that two Prime Location Public Housing (PLH) projects will be included in the May 2022 BuildTo-Order (BTO) sales exercise.

The PLH framework was rolled out by the government in 2021 to ensure that flats in prime and central locations remain affordable and accessible over time.

According to the minister in his post, the first two PLH projects launched have garnered good response.“We are in the midst of the selection exercise for the first PLH project at Rochor, River Peaks I & II. About 80% of buyers who have been invited for the selection exercise thus far have proceeded to book their flats, higher than the average of 60% for most BTO projects,” says Lee.

The upcoming May 2022 BTO exercise will include 4,500 flats in Bukit Merah, Jurong West, Queenstown, Toa Payoh and Yishun.

Lee Sze Teck, senior director (research) at Huttons Asia, believes that the two upcoming PLH projects could be located at Bukit Merah and Queenstown. “[The resale prices of] some fiveroom flats in the vicinity like City Vue @ Henderson and Ghim Moh Valley have exceeded $1 million. There may be more million-dollar flat transactions in the months ahead,” says Lee.

He adds that if the government were to launch two PLH projects in Merah and Queenstown, it would signal that there will be affordable BTO flats in these areas and might curb the possibility of more record-breaking HDB flat prices.

His sentiment is shared by Christine Sun, senior vice-president of research and analytics at OrangeTee & Tie. She says that both neighbourhoods are prime locations and PLH projects there would be highly popular among buyers. Few new HDB flats are also under development in the nearby Bukit Merah and Holland Village areas.

Minister Lee also mentioned in his post that the government will “continue to offer PLH projects in future sales exercises, if there are available and suitable sites”.

Sun says: “The popularity of the previous two PLH sites shows that many people are keen to purchase a PLH model flat despite the longer MOP [minimum occupation period] and more stringent selling criteria. Perhaps more supply has been released into the market to meet the growing demand for such flats.”

Some young Singaporeans may feel that they have been priced out of the market, especially the prime districts, she adds.