Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked the Minister for National Development whether HDB can review its BTO building programme and policy to shorten the waiting time to about 18 months, from the date of successful application to the date the keys are collected, considering the lessons learnt from the delays caused by the pandemic.
Mr Desmond Lee: The Housing and Development Board (HDB) has been actively working to reduce the waiting time for Build-To-Order (BTO) flats. In 2023, close to 70% of the flats had a waiting time of four years or less. This is back to pre-pandemic levels where the majority of BTO projects had a waiting time of three to four years, compared to the pandemic peak of four to five years.
In 2023, we committed to launching 2,000 to 3,000 shorter waiting time (SWT) flats per year by 2025. These are flats with waiting times of less than three years. Working closely with agencies and our construction partners, HDB will meet this target one year ahead of schedule. We will offer about 2,800 SWT flats this year. Going forward, HDB targets to launch about 2,000 to 3,000 SWT flats per year.
Eligible families awaiting the completion of their BTO flats can also tap on the Parenthood Provisional Housing Scheme (PPHS) for interim housing support. HDB will further double the PPHS supply to 4,000 flats by 2025. In the meantime, eligible families may also tap on the PPHS (Open Market) Voucher to defray the cost of renting an HDB flat or bedroom in the open market.
There are practical and operational challenges to launching more SWT flats. These include difficult site conditions, extensive land preparation required for brownfield sites, need for consultation with stakeholder groups, and construction industry capacity. HDB will continue to innovate and aim for higher efficiency and we remain committed to deliver flats as quickly as possible to Singaporeans.
