HDB ramps up BTOs to raise chances for applicants: Khaw

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http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sub/news/story/0,4574,447893,00.html?

Published July 18, 2011

HDB ramps up BTOs to raise chances for applicants: Khaw

By LYNN KAN


(SINGAPORE) Ramping up the launches of build-to-order (BTO) flats would reduce the application rate, and hence raise the chances of applicants getting a unit, Minister for National Development Khaw Boon Wan said on his blog yesterday.

The minister also shared data compiled by the Housing and Development Board (HDB) on successful applicants in BTO exercises held from January to March this year, which showed that the chances of being able to choose a flat in a BTO project were higher when there were fewer applicants for them.

However, when more applicants vied for a BTO flat, 'the chances to select fell significantly, especially for second-timers', he noted.

Citing the January BTO exercise, Mr Khaw noted that in a scenario where two individuals applied for a flat, 'practically all' first-timers - those who have never bought a flat from HDB directly nor taken a CPF housing grant - won the chance to choose a flat. More than eight in 10 second-timers were eligible to choose BTO flats too.

However, in a situation where five applicants applied for a flat in February's exercise, the percentage of successful first-timers who could choose their flats dwindled to between 37 per cent and 59 per cent. And only 13 per cent of second-timers got the chance to select a unit.

'That is why we are ramping up BTO launches to reduce application rate, and hence raise the chances for our applicants,' wrote Mr Khaw. He stressed in his post that the HDB 'loads' the ballot in favour of first-timers.

So in the February BTO exercise, first-timers were 'three to five times more likely to be selected than second-timers' to pick their flats.

HDB assigns more 'chances' to first-timers who had not been successful in previous attempts so as to improve their chances of being able to select a flat.

Mr Khaw also observed: 'Applicants to choice BTO launches are more likely to say 'yes'. Applicants who have been unsuccessful earlier are more likely to say 'yes' too.'

He said that his ministry is tackling the issue by giving applicants more choices. 'We are trying to offer larger BTO launches. This way, we hope to provide more choices and reduce the odds of repeated disappointment.'

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http://www.straitstimes.com/PrimeNews/Story/STIStory_691703.html

Jul 18, 2011

Khaw offers analysis on who gets to pick BTO flats

By Chua Hian Hou


THE optimum flat-to-applicant ratio for public housing launches appears to be 1:2, with almost every applicant that is given a chance to pick a flat doing so.

In his latest blog entry titled Who Are The Successful Ones?, posted yesterday, National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan gave an analysis of how earlier build-to-order (BTO) projects had done.

For the Housing Board's January BTO launch, where there were two applicants for each of the 1,728 Bukit Batok and Yishun flats on offer, 92 per cent of all the applicants were offered a flat.

Mr Khaw, who took over the housing hot seat following the May General Elections, wrote: 'For (the) January BTO, practically all first-timers got to select a flat. Even second-timers got an 84 per cent chance to select.'

This was taking into account how 'not all who are asked to select (a flat) do so. Many will pass up the chance', he said.

But the number of unhappy applicants for BTO flats, which form the lion's share of public housing available, increased dramatically over the following two months.

For February, where there were five applicants for every flat, only 34 per cent actually got a chance to pick a flat, after taking into account those who turned down HDB's offer to pick one of the 1,593 Sengkang and Bukit Panjang flats on sale.

March, with a whopping eight applicants for each of the 1,527 Jurong and Sengkang flats put up for sale, had just 19 per cent of the applicants getting a chance to pick a flat.

Those who had turned down a previous offer fared particularly badly in those months, with 13 per cent and 4 per cent in February and March respectively getting offered a flat, Mr Khaw noted.

This, he said, is 'why we are ramping up BTO launches to reduce application rate, and hence raise the chances for our applicants'.

Data from the later months, including May's unprecedented launch of 4,000 new flats, as well as last week's launch of 3,600 flats at a significant discount from earlier new flat prices, are not yet available.

Mr Khaw also disclosed the proportion of applicants who turned down a chance to pick a flat.

His conclusion: 'Applicants to choice BTO launches are more likely to say 'yes'. Applicants who have been unsuccessful earlier are more likely to say 'yes' too.'

Applicants who had applied for, but had so far failed to be offered the chance to pick a flat, for instance, were significantly more likely to grab the opportunity when it finally appeared.

There were, however, some applicants who appeared stubbornly picky.

Some 60 per cent of the January applicants who had already turned down the offer to select a flat at least once previously turned up their noses when offered another bite at the public housing cherry.

By comparison, only 42 per cent of first-timers rejected the offer of a flat during the same period.

Mr Khaw ended his post by pledging to 'offer larger BTO launches'.

'This way,' he wrote, 'we hope to provide more choices and reduce the odds of repeated disappointment'.

This year, he had said in an earlier blog post, the HDB will offer a record 26,000 new flats, up from an earlier estimate of 22,000 units. The agency has, to date, already launched about 16,000 flats.