October BTO sales exercise applications 3 times the number of flats launched: Chee Hong Tat

Applications for the October Build-To-Order (BTO) sales exercise have exceeded three times the number of flats launched, said Minister for National Development Chee Hong Tat.

In a Facebook post, he said that a total of 31,095 applications were received as at Wednesday (Oct 22) 5pm.

The exercise — in which 9,144 Standard, Plus and Prime flats were launched across 10 projects — will close at 11.59pm today.

Despite being oversubscribed, the minister assured that many first-time applicants have a good chance of securing a flat.

"For first-timer families, majority of the three-room and larger flat types, have application rates of two and below," he wrote.

"Overall, the median application rates for first-timer families in the BTO exercises have come down this year (ranging from 1.1 to 1.7), compared to 2024 (ranging from 1.6 to 2.6)."

Chee stated that in order to meet the housing needs of seniors and singles, almost 3,000 2-room Flexi flats were offered during this exercise. 

"We continue to see strong interest from first-timer singles for 2-room Flexi flats islandwide."

Chee also pointed out that this is the first sales exercise where parents and their children may jointly apply for two units in the same project, where 2-room Flexi or 3-room flats are offered, under the Family Care Scheme.

This is regardless of the children's marital status.

He added that about 4,600 BTO flats will be launched during the February 2026 BTO sales exercise across Bukit Merah, Sembawang, Tampines and Toa Payoh, along with a Sale of Balance Flats exercise offering about 3,000 flats. 

"We will continue to provide a strong supply of flats and a good mix of housing options to meet the needs of Singaporeans." 

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bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com