Oral Answer by Ministry of National Development on application rate for 2-room Flexi flats and BTO eligibility for singles

Nov 5, 2019

Er Dr Lee Bee Wah: To ask the Minister for National Development: 

(a) What is the current application rate for 2-room Flexi flats in general and by singles in particular; and
(b) Whether HDB will consider making 3-room BTO units available to singles who wish to accommodate their parents.

Answer:

The overall Build-To-Order (BTO) application rate for 2-room Flexi flats was 1.6 times in the first half of 2019, while that for singles was 3 times in the same period. 

Singles who wish to live with their parents can indeed form a family nucleus with their parents, and jointly purchase a BTO of any type together. As for the request for singles to buy a larger 3-room flat, that is something that we will have to consider very carefully, bearing in mind the impact it will have on the longer term overall demand-supply balance of the public housing market. I would remind members that we only opened up the BTO market for singles to purchase 2-room units not that long ago. I remember when I started in MND in 2015, application rates were in the double digits. Now we have managed to bring it down, but it is still slightly on the high side, and I think we will need time to ensure that the situation is stabilised before we consider any further moves.