Availability of 2-room BTO Flats

9 Er Dr Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for National Development (a) what is the availability ratio of 2-room BTO flats to the number of applicants; (b) whether there are plans to increase the number of BTO flats for singles; (c) whether priority can be given to applicants who have applied at least three times but were unsuccessful; and (d) whether more 2-room flexi flats can be reserved for singles as they have fewer affordable options compared to others.

The Minister for National Development (Mr Lawrence Wong): Madam, in 2016, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) received an average of 2.7 applications from families, elderly and singles for every 2-room flexi Built-To-Order (BTO) flat that was offered.

Singles were allowed to buy 2-room flexi flats in non-mature estates from July 2013. And to address the strong demand, HDB has increased the 2-room flexi flat supply in non-mature estates from 320 units in 2012 to an average of 4,000 units per year between 2014 and 2016.

Forty percent of 2-room flexi flats are set aside for elderly applicants, including singles aged 55 and above. These applicants enjoy priority allocation if they apply under the Senior Priority Scheme to age-in-place or move nearer to their parents. The remaining flat supply is divided equally between non-elderly singles and families. In addition, any balance of flats not taken up by the elderly or families will be offered to singles.

Singles can also consider the option of buying a resale flat on the open market. With housing grants totaling up to $55,000, resale flats have become more affordable for singles. First-timer singles buying resale flats jointly can enjoy the same amount of housing grants as first-timer families, which means up to $110,000.

Mdm Speaker: Er Dr Lee Bee Wah.

Er Dr Lee Bee Wah (Nee Soon): Mdm Speaker, I would like to ask one supplementary question. I have come across several cases of singles as well as retirees who want to right-size. They have tried six or seven times for 2-room flats but are not successful. So, in cases like that, where they have tried five times, six times, seven times, can the Ministry look into ways to help them, instead of letting them keep trying?

Mr Lawrence Wong: Madam, as I have mentioned earlier, if you look at the overall picture, the situation for elderly singles is getting better because if we look at the application rates for the elderly group as a whole, the success rate and the application rates, are not too bad. The one group where the application rates are still very high are the non-elderly singles because 2-room flexi flats can go to the elderly, non-elderly singles and the families. So, non-elderly singles, because we have opened up to allow them to buy 2-room flats in 2013, there is still a backlog to clear. We are still clearing the backlog. Today, the application rate for this particular group is 6.6. This was in 2016. So, it is about seven. And at an application rate of seven, this means that you have to try several times before you are successful in getting a 2-room flat for the non-elderly singles group.

So, the way to resolve this is really to try and ramp up the supply of 2-room flats, which we are doing, and we hope to clear the backlog over the next two years.