CNA : Waiting time for flats cut by half under BTO compared with Build-To-Sell

Waiting time for flats cut by half under BTO compared with Build-To-Sell
Posted: 22 February 2010 1646 hrs

SINGAPORE: Flat buyers get their new flats much faster under the current Built-To-Order (BTO) system, saving about half the time that it would take under the previous Build-to-Sell mode.

National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said that under BTO, buyers wait for three years for their flats to be ready.

Under the Build-to-Sell mode or Registration for Flats system, the wait was six to seven years.

Mr Mah was replying in Parliament to MP for West Coast GRC Ho Geok Choo, who wanted to know if there are plans to return to the Build-to-Sell mode.

She was concerned that the waiting time for BTO flats would affect many new applicants' resources and plans to start a family.

Mr Mah gave this assurance: "The subscription rate that we are getting now, although it appears large, does not seem to indicate there is such a large pent-up demand, contrary to what many of us think."

He said the BTO system is more flexible, and can also test demand.

"If the answer is there are not enough flats, we will just keep rolling it out," he said.

He also cited figures to show why the current system is more feasible.

At the height of the property boom, the Build-To-Sell system saw 150,000 applicants in the queue for new flats.

But during the Asian Financial Crisis, the government was saddled with 31,000 unsold flats.

It took five years to clear the unsold flats, which Mr Mah described as a "waste of public money". - CNA/vm