Written answer by Ministry of National Development on reasons for successful applicants not taking up HDB BTO flats

Nov 30, 2022

Ms Mariam Jaafar: To ask the Minister for National Development of those who are successful in their ballot for a HDB BTO flat but choose not to select a unit subsequently, how do the reasons provided differ between applicants of flats in mature and non-mature estates respectively.

Answer:

From HDB’s past sales launches, about four in ten applicants who were successful in their ballot for a Build-To-Order (BTO) flat chose not to select a flat. The reasons for not selecting a flat are similar across applicants of flats in both mature and non-mature estates. Common reasons cited by such applicants were their preferred units not being available, wanting to apply for flats in other sales exercises, or having decided to purchase a resale flat instead.

2        While some of these applicants may have genuine reasons for not selecting a flat, they do crowd out others with more pressing housing needs. As such, HDB encourages all applicants to book a flat when they are invited to do so. Those who choose not to do so will be issued a non-selection count. First-timer families who accumulate two non-selection counts will have their subsequent flat applications moved to the second-timer category for a year. Second-timer families who accumulate two non-selection counts will not be able to participate in subsequent sales exercises for a year. This is to be fair to those who have more pressing housing needs. Nevertheless, HDB may exercise flexibility on a case-by-case basis to waive the non-selection count if there were limited number of flats available for selection.

Issued by:    Ministry of National Development

Date         :   30 Nov 2022