3,953 new Built-To-Order (BTO) flats are launched today on 17 Feb 2022 under the February 2022 BTO exercise including 398 flats under the PLH BTO project in Kallang Whampoa.
The 398 units in Kallang/Whampoa being the second project under the Prime Location Public Housing (PLH) model comprises three-room and four-room flats housed in one block with two wings of 33 and 47 storeys. Bounded by King George's Avenue, Syed Alwi Road, and Rochor Canal, the site is within a six-minute walk to the first PLH project in Rochor launched in November last year.
King George's Heights in Kallang/Whampoa under the PLH model comes with stricter buying and selling conditions, e.g. being subjected to a 10-year minimum occupation period (MOP). Additional subsidies will be clawed back by the government upon their resale as well under the new prime location public housing (PLH) model.
Singles above 35 years old will not be allowed to buy these PLH flats in the resale market in future. This is in contrast to current rules that do not place limitations on singles above the age of 35 buying resale flats. The new PLH model will be implemented for public housing in prime, central locations such as the city centre and Greater Southern Waterfront area.
HDB provides additional subsidies, on top of the existing subsidies provided for other Build-To-Order (BTO) flats, to ensure these flats under the PLH model are launched at affordable prices. HDB will claw back the additional subsidies as a percentage of the resale price, also known as the "subsidy recovery", when the owner sells the unit. The subsidy recovery applies only to the first resale, and not to subsequent resale transactions. The exact percentage of the subsidy recovery will be announced next month, at the launch of the Rochor BTO project, the first site under the PLH model. It may be adjusted for other projects in the future depending on market conditions and the amount of subsidies given by HDB.
These PLH BTO flats in King George's Heights in Kallang/Whampoa comes with a 6 per cent subsidy clawback clause upon their resale and Kiwi Lim from Huttons Asia expect these PLH BTO flats to be heavily over-subscribed by young home buyers in the first HDB BTO sales exercise of the year as the location is really very attractive and centrally located, surrounded by amenities and eateries. "I expect the pricing of these PLH BTO flats in Kallang Whampoa to be similar to the Rochor PLH BTO project."
The Rochor PLH BTO project will have a mix of 960 three-room and four-room flats, and also include 40 two-room rental flats, as part of efforts to make living in prime areas accessible to all. It will be located on two plots of land along Weld Road and Kelantan Road next to Jalan Besar MRT station. An open-air carpark next to Sim Lim Tower used to occupy one plot, while the other was vacated by the Sungei Road flea market in July 2017. Besides an MRT station at their doorstep, future residents will also be within walking distance of Berseh Food Centre and Stamford Primary School.
The Rochor BTO project is located in the city fringe sitting on two plots of land along Weld Road and Kelantan Road and is directly connected to Jalan Besar MRT station. Prices start from $409,000, without grants, for a three-room flat and $582,000 for a four-room flat, making them the most expensive units in a mature estate in this launch.
The three-room flats at Rochor BTO project were not as popular and were undersubscribed, with just 215 applicants for the 280 units on offer at the launch. Kiwi Lim from Huttons Asia believe this could be due to the longer 10 year MOP period where families may need more space with children staying with them during the longer holding period. The three-room flats have a smaller estimated unit size of 66 sqm each, compared with 88 sqm for the four-room flats. Successful home owners of this Rochor BTO project will likely be able to resell these flats only some time in 2038. "Most applicants were 2nd timers who already have a place of their own to wait out the 7 years of construction period and may have the intention for the Rochor PLH flats to be their forever home".