Tampines, Holland V BTO projects popular among first-timers

Smaller units, flats in areas like Woodlands see lower demand

- Isabelle Liew

Housing Board Build-To-Order (BTO) projects in Tampines and Holland Village were the most popular among first-timer families in the June sales exercise.

As at 5pm on June 26, around eight first-time applicants were vying for each of the 214 four-room flats and 174 five-room flats at the Tampines GreenTopaz project, which has a waiting time of three years and one month. The development is near Tampines West MRT station, and one of its four blocks will also have two-room rental flats.

Holland Vista in Queenstown drew 2,100 applicants for 228 four-room flats, despite having the longest waiting time in this launch – four years and nine months. It will be the first public housing project in the area since 2012.

The first-timer application rate stood at 6.2 for these prime location public housing (PLH) model flats that come with stricter conditions, including an 8 per cent subsidy clawback upon resale and a 10-year minimum occupation period (MOP).

In all, 6,938 flats are on sale across eight projects in Jurong East, Kallang/Whampoa, Queenstown, Tampines, Woodlands and Yishun. Applications will close at 11.59pm on June 26 on the HDB Flat Portal.

Tanjong Rhu Riverfront I and II in Kampong Arang Road, which are PLH projects, had a total of 3,763 applicants for 1,296 four-room flats, with two first-time applicants gunning for each unit.