Rate and Reasons for Rejection by Applicants Invited to Select Flats in BTO or Sale of Balance Flats Exercise
Ministry of National DevelopmentSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns the rejection rate and reasons for applicants invited to select flats in Build-To-Order (BTO) and Sale of Balance Flats (SBF) exercises. Mr Gan Thiam Poh inquired about rejection statistics, the selection duration, and whether unsuccessful applicants could remain in the queue for future selections. Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong stated that 40% of invited applicants from 2012 to 2016 declined flats, primarily because their preferred units were taken or they changed their housing plans. He explained that selection processes take between six and ten months, and HDB shortlists applicants up to 300% of the total flat supply. Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong clarified that HDB does not maintain a queue for unsuccessful applicants to ensure they can seek alternative housing without prolonged uncertainty.
Transcript
4 Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked the Minister for National Development (a) in the past five years, what is the rate of rejection by applicants who are invited to select a flat for the sale of BTO flats or sale of balance flats exercise; (b) what are the top three reasons given for the rejection; (c) what is the period of time taken to complete inviting all applicants to select their flats; and (d) whether HDB will allow interested and unsuccessful applicants to stay in the queue to select a flat.
The Minister for National Development (Mr Lawrence Wong): Madam, between 2012 and 2016, about two in five applicants who had been invited to select a flat under a Build-To-Order (BTO) or Sale of Balance Flats (SBF) exercise did not proceed to book a flat.
The top three reasons given by these invited flat applicants were that their preferred units had been taken up, they would like to apply for flats in other sales exercises, or they had changed their minds and would like to consider other housing options.
HDB shortlists flat applicants up to 300% of the flat supply. Depending on the flat supply and application rate, the average time taken to complete the selection of a BTO exercise and a SBF exercise is around six months and 10 months respectively. It takes longer for the SBF because the units are typically more spread out, more diverse, so more time taken to complete the SBF exercise. Flats which are not booked will be consolidated for offer in future SBF exercises.
Flat applicants who are not shortlisted are informed that they are not successful. This allows them to make alternative housing plans, such as applying in the next BTO or SBF sales launches, or buying a resale flat on the open market. HDB has found this to be a better arrangement than having unsuccessful applicants stay in the queue, as the applicants may then end up having to wait for an even longer period of time, without any certainty that the flats will be available.