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New flats in Tampines, Kallang, Whampoa?

UPDATED

Tens of thousands of rental flats are needed, says National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan. (Yahoo file photo)
Tens of thousands of rental flats are needed, says National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan. (Yahoo file photo)

Mature estates such as Kallang/Whampoa and Tampines could see Built-To-Order launches next year, said National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan.

He shed more light on his comments about introducing more BTO flats in mature estates in a blog post on Wednesday.

"HDB is still studying the details, but preliminarily, they told me that a couple of mature estates such as Kallang/Whampoa and Tampines could benefit from BTO launches next year," said the minister.

However, he also raised concern over expectations that his earlier comments raised. He flagged a Straits Times report, where a young couple living in Tanjong Pagar said they were looking forward to a BTO in their area.

Stressed Minister Khaw, "I must add that while I have asked HDB to put up more BTOs in mature estates, it will not be possible for many mature estates to benefit from this development, certainly not in the short term."

"This is because most of the matured estates are substantially built up, and there is limited land for public housing," he explained, noting that Tanjong Pagar is "fully built up" and a BTO there is "unlikely".

On Monday, he said he has asked the HDB to look into more mature estates as possibilities for BTO launches next year.

He explained, the Ministry of National Development has been "rather reluctant" to launch BTO flats in mature estates because such popular launches could attract high subscription rates and further alarm the market.

"While this is a valid concern, I believe that Singaporeans will understand that mature estate will always attract very high subscription," he said. "We should not be daunted by such a prospect, but should instead try to meet the aspirations of many young couples wanting to setup nests near their parents."

Continued Minister Khaw, "Our response should be to put up more sites in mature estates, even as we ramp up BTO launches elsewhere."

The current BTO launch for 4,000 new units in four towns has received nearly 8,000 applications. BTO projects in Tampines are the most popular, with high application rates for the 4- and 5-room flats.

The minister, however, advised young couples who are "eagerly looking for new homes" to "calculate their chances".

"My advice to them is to opt for non-mature estates. You improve considerably your chance of securing one in the new towns, instead of competing with many others for the popular projects in the mature estates."

Earlier, Minister Khaw also said in two separate occasions that Singapore would need to build "tens of thousands" of subsidised rental flats and that the HDB would build 25,000 new flats this year.

According to mainstream media reports, the Minister said, "The problem that the HDB face is they are just short of rental flats. In the whole of Singapore today, we have about 45,000 rental flats. But that's not enough.

"It's quite clear in my mind, we need to ramp up the building of rental flats as quickly as we can. Not just by a few thousand, actually, we need to build by tens of thousands. And the earlier the better," he said, citing his encounters with single mothers and divorcees who cannot afford to buy flats at his Meet-the-People sessions.

Minister Khaw, who was speaking at a youth dialogue on Sunday, stressed that it would take several years to meet the shortfall.

According to MND figures, there were 2,300 rental flat applications in 2009 and 2010, down from 3700 in 2008. Families made up the bulk of the applications last year, and singles made up the remaining 17 percent.

Tenants pay between $26 to $275 a month, depending on the flat type.

In January, the government said it planned to build 5,000 more rental flats by next year, while keeping the proportion of rental flats at between 5 percent and 7 percent of the total number of HDB flats.

Two months later, then National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan announced that the average waiting time for these flats would be shortened to eight months this year, down from 21 months in 2008.

Some Members of Parliament told the Today newspaper that they hope to see the eligibility criteria for the Public Rental Scheme relaxed.

MP Lim Wee Kiak (Nee Soon GRC) felt the current criteria are "very strict" while MP Josephine Teo (Bishan-Toa Payoh) wondered if HDB could exercise some discretion to allow those with "extenuating circumstances" to rent temporarily, even if they do not meet the criteria.

She noted, however, the system should only cater to those who need it the most and the immediate task is to meet the demand of those who meet the existing conditions first.

Minister Khaw told reporters that before relaxing the rules, the government would have to ensure there is capacity first.

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