New housing policy for singles well-received: Khaw Boon Wan

National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan said new ground has been broken with the Housing & Development Board’s (HDB) July’s Build-To-Order (BTO) exercise where eligible singles can buy new two-room HDB flats in non-mature estates.

In a blog post, Mr Khaw said the policy change was initially met with scepticism, with many predicting a lukewarm response.

Mr Khaw said HDB expects to receive more than 8,500 applicants from singles when the BTO exercise closes on Monday night.

That means more than 55 singles will compete for each two-room unit on offer for singles.

The minister said the median age of the singles who applied for the flats was about 43 years and their median monthly income was about S$1,800.

Mr Khaw remarked that the decision to focus on singles aged 35 years and above and up to S$5,000 income level was therefore appropriate.

The minister added that this new housing policy has not affected the first-timer families applying for two-room flats as their application rate is below one for now.

Mr Khaw said HDB will analyse the BTO data in greater detail to see how it can refine the next BTO exercises.

Source – CNA – 05 Aug 2013