The Housing and Development Board (HDB) will reduce the supply of new three-room and larger flats by 18 per cent, from 22,600 units in 2013 to about 18,600 in 2014.
In a statement on Monday, it said the adjustment is timely as a better balance has already been struck between the supply of Build-To-Order (BTO) flats and the demand from families for them.
At the same time, HDB will increase the supply of two-room BTO flats in non-mature estates from 2,600 units in 2013 to 5,000 units in 2014.
It will also offer 700 studio apartments to meet the needs of seniors wanting to right-size.
In total, HDB will offer 24,300 flats in 2014, which is 3 per cent less than the 25,100 units launched in 2013.
The statement said over the past three years, HDB has ramped up its building programme to 26,000 new HDB flats on average per year.
This, coupled with a series of cooling measures, has largely stabilised the public housing market.
As a result, the backlog of first-timer applicants has been cleared, and BTO application rates by families have fallen, said the statement.
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 30 Dec 2013