Written answer by Ministry of National Development on Data on Durations between Application and Booking Dates for HDB BTO Flats

Feb 5, 2025

Question No: 6531

Question by: Ms Hazel Poa

To ask the Minister for National Development what are the median, lower quartile and upper quartile time periods that elapse between the application for a HDB BTO flat and the flat’s booking date.

Answer:

Currently, the number of flat applicants HDB shortlists in each public sales exercise is up to three times the flat supply.  Shortlisted applicants are invited to book a flat based on their balloted queue position, subject to availability of units and ethnic quota when their turn is due.

For 2024, HDB has completed the flat booking for the Build-To-Order (BTO) exercises launched in February and June that offered a total of about 11,100 flats.  For these two BTO exercises, the lower quartile, median and upper quartile time periods between flat application and booking were about 4.5, 5.1 and 5.7 months respectively.

To ensure more efficient allocation of flats, the rules for non-selection of new flats have been tightened from the October 2023 BTO exercise.  Since then, the proportion of BTO flat applicants who did not book a flat when invited has halved, from 40% previously to about 19% over the three BTO exercises where the booking has been completed.  This has enabled flat buyers to secure their flats more quickly. 

With the lower non-selection rate, almost all flats are now booked by applicants queued within the first 200% of the flat supply.  Hence, from the Feb 2025 BTO and Sale of Balance Flats (SBF) exercises onwards, HDB will shortlist applicants up to 200% of the flat supply, instead of up to 300%.  This will improve system efficiency, enabling HDB to serve shortlisted applicants faster.  Flat applicants who are unable to secure a flat can also make alternative housing plans earlier or proceed to apply for the next BTO/SBF exercise.