As at 5pm on Nov 18, there were 2,105 applicants vying for the 680 four-room units at the Rochor BTO project.PHOTO: HDB
Today on 18 November 2021, as at 5pm, there were 2,105 applicants vying for the 680 four-room units at the Rochor BTO project - River Peaks I and II - which is next to Jalan Besar MRT station.
Four-room flats in the first Build-To-Order (BTO) project under a new prime location public housing (PLH) model in Rochor area saw strong demand from home buyers attracting triple the number of applicants than the units available just a day after they were launched for sale on Wednesday (Nov 17).
The highly anticipated PLH project - River Peaks I and II in Rochor - comes with stricter buying and selling conditions. A total of 960 3-room and 4-room flats are on offer across 6 47-storey blocks. Another 40 2-room rental flats will be integrated in one of the blocks. The Rochor BTO project is the first to come under the PLH model, which imposes stricter buying and selling conditions on flat owners to keep public housing in prime areas affordable and inclusive.
Owners of these Rochor flats must pay 6 per cent of the resale price or valuation, whichever is higher, to the Housing Board when they sell their homes on the open market for the first time.
Four-room flats in the first Build-To-Order (BTO) project under a new prime location public housing (PLH) model in Rochor area saw strong demand from home buyers attracting triple the number of applicants than the units available just a day after they were launched for sale on Wednesday (Nov 17).
The highly anticipated PLH project - River Peaks I and II in Rochor - comes with stricter buying and selling conditions. A total of 960 3-room and 4-room flats are on offer across 6 47-storey blocks. Another 40 2-room rental flats will be integrated in one of the blocks. The Rochor BTO project is the first to come under the PLH model, which imposes stricter buying and selling conditions on flat owners to keep public housing in prime areas affordable and inclusive.
Owners of these Rochor flats must pay 6 per cent of the resale price or valuation, whichever is higher, to the Housing Board when they sell their homes on the open market for the first time.
 |  |
Sources above from HDB and ST Graphics
A total of 4,501 Build-To-Order (BTO) flats were launched for sale by the Housing Board yesterday on 17 Nov 2021, including 960 units in Rochor - the first project under a new prime location public housing (PLH) model - which comes with a 6 per cent subsidy clawback clause upon their resale.
The units are spread across 9 housing projects in 6 estates, with a median waiting time of 4.4 years for flats to be completed. In addition, another 1,798 flats were on offer in this year's second, and final, Sale of Balance Flats (SBF) sales. In total, 6,299 new flats were launched yesterday.
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.
Besides the Rochor project, seven other BTO projects were launched for sale on Wednesday in the mature estate of Kallang/Whampoa and the non-mature estates of Choa Chua Kang, Hougang, Jurong West and Tengah. Most of these remained undersubscribed as at Thursday evening, with the exception of Kent Heights in Kallang/Whampoa and two projects in Hougang.
In Kent Heights, 399 applicants are vying for 276 four-room flats, the biggest available flat type in the project. Prices start from $511,000, without grants.
The units are spread across 9 housing projects in 6 estates, with a median waiting time of 4.4 years for flats to be completed. In addition, another 1,798 flats were on offer in this year's second, and final, Sale of Balance Flats (SBF) sales. In total, 6,299 new flats were launched yesterday.
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.
Besides the Rochor project, seven other BTO projects were launched for sale on Wednesday in the mature estate of Kallang/Whampoa and the non-mature estates of Choa Chua Kang, Hougang, Jurong West and Tengah. Most of these remained undersubscribed as at Thursday evening, with the exception of Kent Heights in Kallang/Whampoa and two projects in Hougang.
In Kent Heights, 399 applicants are vying for 276 four-room flats, the biggest available flat type in the project. Prices start from $511,000, without grants.
(Clockwise from top left) Kent Heights, Tanjong Tree Residences @ Hougang, Hougang Olive, Nanyang Opal, Parc Glen @ Tengah and Heart of Yew Tee. PHOTOS: HDB
The Rochor project is estimated to be completed in the second quarter of 2028. The longer construction time for the Rochor project is due to the height of the blocks and the proximity to Jalan Besar MRT station, which require more preparation work as well as compliance with more stringent requirements by the authorities.
In order to prevent excessive windfall gains when owners sell their flats on the open market, HDB said it will claw back the additional subsidies. This also means that owners who choose not to sell their flats will not get their subsidies clawed back.
Owners will also be subject to a 10-year minimum occupation period, up from the five years for other flats, before they can sell their flats on the open market.
However, the three-room flats at Rochor BTO project were not as popular and remained undersubscribed as at today, with just 215 applicants for the 280 units on offer. 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 of the applicants are 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". said Kiwi Lim.
In order to prevent excessive windfall gains when owners sell their flats on the open market, HDB said it will claw back the additional subsidies. This also means that owners who choose not to sell their flats will not get their subsidies clawed back.
Owners will also be subject to a 10-year minimum occupation period, up from the five years for other flats, before they can sell their flats on the open market.
However, the three-room flats at Rochor BTO project were not as popular and remained undersubscribed as at today, with just 215 applicants for the 280 units on offer. 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 of the applicants are 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". said Kiwi Lim.
Straits Times article on 18 Nov 2021
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
RSS Feed
