More new flats could be offered next year, as the Government expects demand to increase with recent policy changes such as a higher income ceiling and more CPF grants.
National Development Minister Lawrence Wong said on Friday (Oct 16) that the supply will likely be below 20,000 units, and a “slight adjustment” from the 15,000 units planned for this year.
“We had a huge housing programme where we built more than 20,000 at one time over a few years, then we tapered off to 15,000. We are not going back to over 20,000, but it’s a slight adjustment from 15,000,” he said.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of his visit to the Waterway Terraces in Punggol, Mr Wong said an increase in the BTO flat supply does not mean that the Government is changing its “tapering approach” to the housing market.
“We are continuing to taper the housing program and we will continue to move in that direction. But I think we may need to make some temporary adjustments in order to accommodate this higher demand in housing arising from policy changes.”
In July, the HDB said it will trim this year’s new flat supply from 16,900 to 15,000. Last year, about 22,000 units were launched.
Mr Wong, who took over as National Development Minister following the recent Cabinet reshuffle, said the HDB will look at the response for the upcoming BTO exercise in November, and finalise the 2016 supply numbers before the end of the year.
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 16 Oct 2015