SINGAPORE - About 30 per cent of new Build-To-Order (BTO) flats launched in the last five sales exercises came under the prime location public housing (PLH) model, which the Government rolled out in November 2021 to curb the “lottery effect” of owning flats in these areas.
In the one year since, the Housing Board has launched 10 such projects in the Central, Queenstown, Bukit Merah and Kallang/Whampoa areas – all of which are sought-after mature estates with their fair share of million-dollar HDB flats.
On the other hand, OrangeTee & Tie senior vice-president of research and analytics Christine Sun said the lower application rates in the two estates, compared with Kallang/Whampoa and Central, could be seen as an indication of buyer resistance, suggesting that the boundaries of PLH flats could run the risk of being overstretched. “Not everyone is willing to trade a farther location for a longer 10-year minimum occupation period. We also did not expect so many PLH flats to be released consecutively in the past year,” she said.