THE Housing Board (HDB) will release three new sites over the course of the year to add a further 1,600 condo-style flats to the housing supply.
One plot – in Tampines Avenue 5 – will be launched for tender next month and could potentially yield 580 new homes, the HDB said yesterday. The other two – at Bedok Reservoir Crescent and Upper Serangoon Road – will be launched in the second half and could yield 430 and 580 homes respectively.
The sites are for the design, build and sell scheme (DBSS). This allows developers to construct flats with features similar to those for private property but which are subject to HDB rules.
The three sites are the latest in a slew of land releases by the Government, in what is seen by analysts as an aggressive move to meet high levels of housing demand. The largest-ever release of state land for private homes was announced last week.
The Government has put 18 residential or residential/commercial sites on the programme for confirmed sale in the second half of the year, and 13 sites for residential use on the reserve list. These plots – of which 20 are new and not rolled over previously – could accommodate 13,905 new homes.
Ngee Ann Polytechnic real estate lecturer Nicholas Mak said yesterday the HDB move is meant to cool the red-hot HDB resale market, which has seen prices at historic highs. ‘New DBSS flats will add to the supply and help moderate prices. In the past, it did not launch as many DBSS sites, but in one year we are seeing a few now,’ he said.
Source: Straits Times