By Mustafa Shafawi | Posted: 16 June 2011 1246 hrs
SINGAPORE: National Development Minister Khaw Boon
Wan said the rising age of first time Build-to-Order (BTO)
applicants justifies revising the HDB income ceiling.
Writing in his blog, Mr Khaw said first-time applicants who applied
under HDB's Fiancé-Fiancée Scheme for BTO projects launched in May
had a median age of 27.
And other first-timers - such as those already married - had a
median age of 34.
In May, former National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan hinted
that the income ceiling for BTO flats could be raised to
S$10,000.
He had said then that the review will be conducted after the
election and is expected to be completed within six months.
In a detailed breakdown of applicants for May's BTO exercise, Mr
Khaw said about 40 per cent of first-timers applied under the
Married Child Priority Scheme to live near their parents.
Mr Khaw said the ministry must be mindful of this aspiration.
However, he admitted that meeting it will not be easy, as mature
estates have limited scope for further BTO development.
The proportion of applicants making a repeat BTO attempt has gone
down to 45 per cent from 60 per cent in the previous quarter.
Fourteen per cent of the applicants had applied for three or more
previous BTO exercises in the last one year.
Of these, Mr Khaw said a third had the chance to select a flat but
did not do so for their own reasons.
He said he's also aware of the frustrations and anxiety of those
who did not have a chance to select at all, and he's ramping up BTO
launches to try to ease this problem.
Meanwhile, Mr Khaw advised them to try less mature estates to
improve on their odds.
HDB is now processing the 14,000 applications for the 4,000 units
launched in May.
Sixty-five per cent of them were first-timers.
Mr Khaw said analysing the profile of successful applicants will
provide further insights.
- CNA
